What Does Your Heart Earnestly Yearn For?

Dear Friends,

     Maybe I should start by asking:  What is it that you really want?   What is it that you really desire?   What does your heart earnestly yearn for?   Do you even know? 
     This week's "thought" addresses that issue: What  your heart truly yearns for.   The answer I offer today comes to you from David Downing, co-director of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. It is taken from an Advent Devotional book called, "The Grand Miracle."  Enjoy.

"I Am the Bread of Life."

John 6:35

     "It is not what God can give us, but God that we want," said George MacDonald.  He was a seasoned old soul, and what was true for him may have been more of an ideal for other pilgrims on the journey. The rest of us may feel more inclined to pray: "Father, forgive us, for we do not know what we want."   We seek a gilded afterlife when we could have Eternal Life.  We seek breadcrumbs of earthly pleasure when we could have a heavenly banquet.  We avoid pain when we could embrace joy.  We plead for words that will give us comfort and light, but our own darkness does not comprehend the Word. 

     Help us, Lord.  We ask for a road-map to heaven when the Way, the Truth and the Life stands right before us.  We want the crown without the cross, and we fix our gaze on the crown more than the King.  We look to Glory, but others do not see the glory when they look at us.  We do not ask too much in prayer, but too little.  We follow the One who multiplied the loaves and do not see the Bread of Life.  We want to quench the thirst of the moment, but do not ask for Living Water, the cup of heaven.

     The Everlasting took human form so that we might lift our eyes from the gifts to the Giver. He emptied Himself so that from His fullness we might receive grace upon grace. The baby lay in a feeding trough so we might not be forever hungry. The child spoke in His Father's house, so we might put away childish things. The man told us that we must die to live, that sorrow would turn to joy, that those who seek will find.  He rose that we might rise. He came to be with us for a time, so that we might be with Him forever.  Lord, teach us to know what we want, to want what you want, and most of all, to want you.  Amen." 

     So many today do not realize that their pursuit of joy, happiness, pleasure, contentment and peace in their souls' is really an inner craving after God.  "God has placed eternity in our hearts," says Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 3:11.  And that "eternity" which God has placed within us has left a hole in our soul that can only be filled, as Pascal put it, "by an infinite and immutable object, that is, by God Himself."

     Yes, most people fail to see that their clamoring after all those things -- even sinful things -- is really a pursuit of God and what He alone can supply when He enters our being, by His Spirit, in the grace of regeneration.  To quote Pascal at greater length, "There was once a true happiness in man, of which there now remains only an empty trace, which he vainly tries to fill with things from his environment. Yet all these efforts are inadequate, because the infinite abyss in the human soul can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is, by God Himself."

     Maybe our prayer should be:  Lord Jesus, forgive us for chasing after things that can never truly satisfy when you have told us time and again in your Word that we can find true and lasting satisfaction only in You; in having You.  So often we clamor after everything but you, even venturing into the pursuit of sinful and forbidden things, before we finally come -- broken, empty and damaged -- to see the error of our ways. Convince us, we pray, that our inner hunger can only be satisfied as we feed on You the Bread of Heaven, and our inner thirst can only be quenched as we drink deeply of You the Living Water -- the only water a person can partake of and thirst no more.  Lord, as Mr. Downing has correctly prayed, "teach us to know what we want, to want what you want, and most of all, to want you."  Amen.

In this time of anticipation and waiting, Pastor Jeff

Brokenness is the Pathway to Spiritual Fruitfulness

Dear Friends,

     Today's "thought" confronts us with a reality we sometimes wish were not so.  Yet, it's a truth proclaimed both in Scripture and from the mouths or pens of numerous saints throughout history: Brokenness is the pathway to spiritual fruitfulness.  Before God can truly use you, He must first break you.  As much as we might wish it were otherwise, it is true. This selection comes from the devotional, "Streams in the Desert" by L. B. Cowman (with added content).  Enjoy.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God,

you will not despise.”

Psalm 51:17

     “Those people God uses most to bring glory to Himself are those who are completely broken, for the sacrifice He accepts is, "a broken and contrite heart.”  It was not until Jacob’s natural strength was broken, when “his hip was wrenched” at Peniel (Gen. 32:25), that he came to the point where God could clothe him with spiritual power.  It was not until Moses struck the rock at Horeb, breaking its surface, that cool “water flowed out of it for the people to drink” (Ex. 17:6).  It was not until Gideon’s three hundred specially chosen soldiers “broke the jars that were in their hands” (which symbolized brokenness in their lives, Judg.7:19), that the hidden light of the torches shone forth and brought terror to their enemies.

     It was once the poor widow broke the seal on her only remaining jar of oil and began to pour it out that God miraculously multiplied it to pay her debts and thereby supplied her means of support (2 Kings 4:1–7).  It was not until Esther risked her life and broke through the strict laws of a heathen king’s court that she obtained favor to rescue her people from death (Est. 4:16).  It was only when Jesus took “the five loaves . . . and broke them” (Luke 9:16) that the bread was multiplied to feed the five thousand.  It was through the loaves being broken that the miracle occurred.  It was when Mary broke her beautiful “alabaster jar of very expensive perfume” (Matt. 26:7), and destroyed its future usefulness and value, that the wonderful fragrance filled the house.

     Mary (the mother of Jesus) was not only told of the joy of her being chosen by God to give birth to the Messiah, but that her heart would be pierced also -- cut and broken in two, as if by a sword. Overwhelming grief would cut deep into the joys of bearing and raising Jesus.  Peter was broken of his stubborn pride through the crushing and humiliating experience of denying Jesus three times in His hour of greatest need. Yet, through such failure and humiliation, he was made more humble and dependent on the Spirit, readied through the pain of brokenness to lead the early church.  Heartless Paul was broken on the road to Damascus as Christ appeared to him and blinded him, and he was led helpless, dazed, humbled, and broken in spirit, into the city, like a little child.  Likewise, it was when Jesus allowed His precious body to be broken by thorns, nails, and a spear, that His inner life was poured out like an ocean of crystal-clear water for thirsty sinners to drink and live! 

     It is not until a beautiful kernel of corn is buried and broken in the earth by DEATH, that its inner heart sprouts heavenward and grows to produce hundreds of other seeds or kernels. And so it has always been throughout history — GOD USES BROKEN THINGS.  Those who have been gripped by the power of the Holy Spirit and are used for God’s glory are those who have been broken in their finances, broken in their self-will, broken in their ambitions, broken in their lofty ideals, broken in their worldly reputation, broken in their desires, and often broken in their health.  Yes, He uses those who are despised by the world and who seem totally hopeless and helpless, just as Isaiah said: “The lame will carry off plunder” (Isa. 33:23).

     ‘Oh, break my heart; but break it as a field is plowed and broken for the seeds of corn… Oh, break my heart; break it, victorious God, that life’s eternal well may flow abroad... Break it as when the captive trees, breaking icy bonds, regain their liberties.  And as thought’s sacred grove to life is springing, be joys, like birds, their hope, Your victory singing.’ (Thomas Toke Bunch)”

     This theme is spoken of repeatedly throughout church history.  Martin Luther once wrote in similar terms suggesting: “God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man nothing, God can make nothing out of Him.”  Another saint said, “God always builds on ruins.”   Alan Redpath said: “God will never plant the seed of His life upon the soil of a hard, unbroken spirit. He will only plant that seed where the conviction of His Spirit has brought brokenness, and where the soil has been watered with tears of repentance as well as tears of joy.”   Hudson Taylor the famous missionary to China said, “When God wants to do His great works, He trains somebody to be quiet enough and little enough, and then He uses that person.”  Revival, says Isaiah, comes not to those who think they have it together, but to the broken: “This is what the high and lofty One says – He who loves forever and whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.” (57:15).  Being broken is never pleasant, but it is the path that leads to spiritual fruit and usefulness.

     The way God makes us whole is to permit us to go through experiences that "break us" — because brokenness is the pathway to wholeness and restoration.  Pride is like steel that must be softened in the heat of the furnace before it becomes something that can be formed and molded.  The human heart is by nature like hard parched ground which must be watered with tears, and broken by the plow of trials, before the seed of His word can penetrate and take root. The will of man is like a hard lump of clay which the Potter must first pound and squeeze and stretch and then repeat the process all over again, before he can then take it and make it into a beautiful piece of colorful pottery.  Lord, how we wish there was an easier way... 

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

What do I look for in a Pastor?

Greetings All,

     Another week, another message!  I so look forward to sending out these gems I glean from my reading of Christian authors.
     This week's "thought"  has to do with the trend in the church to court or win the approval of the movers and shakers in the world by conforming Christian ministry to standards people in the world would find more acceptable.  It addresses the attempt to make ministry more proper, legitimate, credible and well-received in the eyes of the world -- more professional.  And to a degree the thought may seem good. But it must be approached with caution, lest the faith be made into something it was never intended to be - just one among a plethora of other legitimate admirable professions to pursue.

     This thought comes to you from John Piper in one of his less-well-known books, "Brothers, We Are NOT Professionals."   It's a good reminder in a world that often seeks to pressure the Church to conform to its standards. Though written primarily to pastors, it has a message for every Christian. Try to understand what he's saying and I believe you will see the validity of his points.  And at the end, ask yourself: What do I look for in a pastor?  Enjoy.

     "We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry.  The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry.  The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake. For there is no professional childlikeness (Matt. 18:3); there is no professional tenderheartedness (Eph. 4:32); there is no professional panting after God (Ps. 42:1).  But our first business IS to pant after God in prayer. Our business IS to weep over our sins (James 4:9). Is there professional weeping?  Our business IS to strain forward to the holiness of Christ and the prize of the upward calling of God (Phil. 3:14); to pummel our bodies and subdue them lest we be castaways (I Cor. 9:27); to deny ourselves and take up the blood-spattered cross daily (Luke 9:23). How do you carry a cross professionally?  We have been crucified with Christ; yet now we live by faith in the one who loved us and gave Himself up for us (Gal. 2:20).  What is professional faith?

     We are to be filled not with wine but with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). How can you be drunk with Christ professionally? Then, wonder of wonders, we were given the gospel treasure to carry around in clay pots to show that the transcendent power belongs to God (II Cor. 4:7).  Is there a way to be a professional clay pot?  We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus (professionally?) so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested (professionally?) in our bodies (II Cor. 4:9-11). I think God has exhibited us preachers as last of all in the world. We are fools for Christ's sake, but professionals are wise.  We are weak, but professionals are strong.  Professionals are held in honor, we are held in disrepute. We do not try to secure a professional lifestyle, but are ready to hunger and thirst and be ill-clad and homeless. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slaughtered, we try to conciliate; we have become the refuse of the world, the scum of the earth (I Cor. 4:9-13).  Or have we?

     Brothers, we are NOT professionals!  We are outcasts. We are aliens and exiles in the world (I Pet. 2:11).  Our citizenship is in heaven and we wait in eager expectation for the Lord (Phil. 3:20).  You cannot professionalize the love for His appearing without killing it.  And it IS being killed.  The aims of our ministry are eternal and spiritual. They are not shared by any of the professions. It is precisely by the failure to see this that we are dying. "The life-giving preacher," says Richard Cecil, "is a man of God, whose heart is ever athirst for God, whose soul is ever following hard after God, whose eye is single to God, and in whom, by the power of God's Spirit, the flesh and the world have been crucified and his ministry is like the generous flood of a life-giving river." 

     ...The professionalization of the ministry is a constant threat to the offense of the Gospel. It is a threat to the profoundly spiritual nature of our work. I have seen it often: the love of professionalism (the desire for equality in status and pay with the world's professionals) kills a man's belief that he is sent by God to save people from hell and make them Christ-exalting, spiritual aliens in this world. If the world sets the agenda for the professional man; God sets the agenda for the spiritual man. The strong wine of Jesus Christ explodes the wineskins of professionalism. There is an infinite difference between the pastor whose heart is set on being a professional and the pastor whose heart is set on being the aroma of Christ -- the fragrance of death to some and eternal life to others (II Cor. 2:15-16).  God deliver us from the professionalizers!

     God, give us tears for our sins.  Forgive us for being so shallow in prayer, so thin in our grasp of holy truths, so content amid perishing neighbors, so empty of passion and earnestness in all our conversations.  Restore to us the childlike joy of our salvation.  Frighten us with the awesome holiness and power of Him who can cast both soul and body into hell (Matt. 10:28). Cause us to hold to the cross with fear and trembling as our hope-filled and offensive tree of life.  Grant us nothing, absolutely nothing, the way the world views it.  May Christ be all in all (Col. 3:11). Banish professionalism from our midst, Oh God, and in its place put passionate prayer, poverty of spirit, hunger for God, rigorous study of holy things, white-hot devotion to Jesus Christ, utter indifference to all material gain, and unremitting labor to rescue the perishing, perfect the saints, and glorify our sovereign Lord. Humble us, O God, under your mighty hand, and let us rise -- not as professionals, but as witnesses and partakers of the sufferings of Christ. In His awesome name. Amen." 

     Some of us (myself included) have lost elements of the passion we once had when we started out in the ministry.  In some cases wisdom has thankfully tempered a lopsided zeal, a blatant omission of duty, or a pride-motivated (rather than Christ-motivated) passion for service.  But in other cases the passion that drove us into the ministry can get driven out of us by the ministry -- sometimes by the expectations placed upon us that we need to be more like the successful worldly professionals around us.

     Yet other times it may even be due to the pastors themselves adopting the subtle worldly idea that ministry is a "profession" rather than a "calling."  One that is to be carried out even if there are no "competitive benefit packages."  Yes, carried out even if it were to mean persecution, the loss of all our possessions, or even our life (Hebrews 11:32-40 / Rev. 2:8-10).  Piper's point is well taken --  professionalization of the ministry can (and has) brought spiritual apathy to the church.  Maybe it's time to consider afresh what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and remember that the call to follow Jesus is a call to serve Him for His sake, at whatever the cost, no matter what comes our way as a result -- something most of the professionals I know would not be inclined to do in their particular professions.

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

What do you think?

Greetings All,

     Today I offer you some isolated quotes from four different authors and present them to you with this question: "What do you think?"
     When you read each one what is your initial response?  Do you agree or disagree?  And if so, why?  Are they clear or hard to understand?  I know most everyone is pretty busy, but if you did have a spare moment I would enjoy hearing your thoughts!  And if you do happen to respond, please note which comment you are responding to -- comment #1 by Richard Lovelace, comment #2 by William Carey, comment #3 by John Owen,  or comment #4 B.B. Warfield.  Enjoy.

     “Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives.  Many have so light an apprehension of God’s holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin, that consciously they see little need for justification (little need for forgiveness and pardon through the substitutionary work of Jesus), although below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure…  Many have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine [of justification by faith] but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification, in the Augustinian manner, drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance, or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience.  Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, and relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude.”                 

Richard Lovelace, “Dynamics of Spiritual Life.”

     

     

     On his 70th birthday, pioneer missionary William Carey, who translated the whole Bible (or large parts of it) into 23 Indian dialects and Persian; who wrote a Mahratta-English dictionary, a Bengali-English dictionary, a Bhotanta-English dictionary, and a Sanscrit-English dictionary; and who worked tirelessly as a missionary in India for 41 years (between 1792 and 1833) wrote to one of his sons these words:  “I am this day 70 years old, a monument of divine mercy and goodness, though on a review of my life I find very much for which I ought to be humbled in the dust. My direct and positive sins are innumerable. My negligence in the Lord's work has been great. I have not promoted His cause nor sought His glory and honor as I ought.  Notwithstanding all of this, I am spared till now and am still retained in His work, and I trust I am received into the divine favor through Him (Christ).” 

William Carey

“Believers obey Christ as the one by whom all their obedience is accepted by God. Believers know all their duties are weak, imperfect and unable to abide in God’s presence. Therefore, they look to Christ as the one who bears the iniquity of their holy things, who adds incense to their prayers, gathers out all the weeds from their duties and makes them acceptable to God... The actual aid and internal operation of the Spirit of God is necessary to produce every holy act of our minds, wills and emotions in every duty whatsoever.  Notwithstanding the power or ability that believers have received by the principle of new life implanted in salvation, they still stand in need of the divine enablement of the Holy Spirit in every single act or duty toward God.”

John Owen

     "It is the conviction that there is nothing in us, or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development which is the cause of our acceptance with God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we initially believe, it is just as true after we have believed and it will continue to be true as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing, nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter regardless of our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in Christian behavior. It is always on His "blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest. There is never anything that we are or have or do that can take His place or that takes a place along with Him. We are always unworthy, and all that we have or do of good is always of pure grace…  There is emphasized in this attitude the believer's continued sinfulness in fact and in act and his continued sense of his sinfulness. And this carries with it recognition of the necessity of unbroken penitence throughout life. The Christian is conceived fundamentally, in other words, as a penitent sinner.

     We are sinners, and we know ourselves to be sinners, lost and helpless in ourselves. But we are saved sinners, and it is our salvation which gives the tone to our life—a tone of joy which swells in exact proportion to the sense we have of how much we deserve just the opposite.  For it is he to whom much is forgiven who loves much and, who loving, rejoices much.  “It is a great paradox but glorious truth of Christianity,” says Thomas Adams, “that a good conscience may coexist with a consciousness of evil. Though we can have no satisfaction in ourselves, we may have perfect satisfaction in Christ.”

B. B. Warfield

     

     As I am sure you already know, I am in agreement with all the statements above and believe they accurately reflect the biblical teaching. But if you do not, or feel you would change them in any way, or feel they are out of sync with the message of the Bible I'd love to hear how you disagree or would alter them!

In His Grace, Pastor Jeff 

Testimony of William Grimshaw

Greetings All!

     There comes a time in the life of every believer where they must wrestle with what they truly trust in; where their hope lies, and what the only true object of saving faith is. This week's "thought" is a true account of the one man's journey along that road -- a road that led from misplaced faith and depression, to true faith and joy!
     It is not unusual (at least at the beginning of our life of faith) to have a faith that when tested is found lacking or misplaced. Hopefully this testimony about William Grimshaw's journey from trusting in the wrong thing, to being led by a miraculous event to trust in the only true saving object of faith will be of help to all -- either as a guide that takes you to where you need to be, or a reminder not to stray from there. It comes from "The One Year Book of Christian History" by Michael and Sharon Rusten.  Enjoy.

     "William Grimshaw was born in Lancashire, England, in 1708. He went to Christ's College, Cambridge, intending to enter the ministry. During his third year he fell in with the wrong crowd, becoming, in his own words, "as vile as the worst."  Still, he chose to enter the ministry, finding no incongruity between his sinful lifestyle and his chosen profession.  Ordained in the Church of England in 1732, Grimshaw was assigned a church in West Yorkshire. He married a young widow, but within four years she tragically died, leaving him with two small children.

     Already a troubled soul, Grimshaw was plunged into a deep depression. He sent his children away to be raised by relatives. All he could think about was his own mortality and the necessity of making arrangements for his own funeral... In his written instructions for his funeral he specified: "To attend my funeral I desire that 20 persons be invited (of my next relations and intimatest acquaintances) and be entertained in the following manner: Let 5 quarts of claret (a red wine from Bordeaux) ... be put in a punch bowl and be drunk in wine glasses until it is all gone."

     At this time an itinerant preacher began rebuking Grimshaw for his legalistic view of salvation [a view whereby he encouraged people to trust in their own efforts, works, or aspects of their own performance for their acceptance with God]. He said to Grimshaw, "You are no believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are building on the sand."   Grimshaw tried to avoid the man, but the words "you are building on sand" kept haunting him.  In 1741, while visiting a friend, Grimshaw saw a book on the table and picked it up.  As he opened it, and discovered it was by John Owen, a Puritan theologian, a flash of heat flushed his face. Puzzled, he looked at the fireplace, wondering if the fire had caused his sudden flush of heat.  Opening the book again, he read the title: "The Doctrine of Justification by Faith."  Suddenly a second flash of heat swept over him. Astonished that it happened again, Grimshaw took it as a divine imperative that he was to read the book.

     Taking the book back home, Grimshaw noted in the preface that Owen had written the book for people suffering from the same anguish and distress of soul he was experiencing.  The book confronted the reader with the question of whether he would 'trust in his own personal inherent righteousness (his own efforts and religious or moral performances) or, in full renunciation of it, take to himself the grace of God and the righteousness of Christ alone.' To Grimshaw the choice was clear.  As he would later confide to a friend,  "I was wiling to renounce myself, every degree of fancied merit and ability, and to embrace CHRIST ONLY for my all in all.  O what light and comfort did I now enjoy in my own soul, and what a taste of the pardoning love of God!"

     His ministry immediately changed, and he found peace and joy in his heart as well as his soul. He fell in love with a local girl, married her, and brought his children back home...  He applied for a new parish and moved his family to nearby Haworth, where he ministered powerfully and effectively until his death in 1763 at the age of 55. Under his spiritual leadership the little-known village of Yorkshire became one of the leading centers of the Christian faith in all of England. His funeral was quite different from the one he had planned years before. Vast crowds of loving parishioners followed his coffin to its final resting place. The pastor who spoke summarized the faith of Grimshaw by saying, "Upon Christ's atoning blood and justifying righteousness alone, did EVERY HOPE of his soul's acceptance with God depend" 

     Upon what does your hope rest?  What is the object of your faith? What does your hope or trust for pardon and salvation rest upon?  Is it your efforts at trying to be a "good" person?  Is it a list of accomplishments or a resume of cataloged good works?  Is it a mix of faith in Jesus plus your attempts to be righteous? Here it helps to remember that when it comes to saving faith, Jesus plus anything nullifies Jesus. If you are trusting in anything of your own, you are trusting in you, and thus not fully (or for that matter, not at all) in Jesus.  The Gospel's message is clear: We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  Add anything into the mix and you disbelieve the Gospel, negate Jesus, will struggle incessantly with emotional highs and lows, find the need to pretend, have a fear of being open, honest and transparent about your sins, wrestle with a sense of of frustration with God and self, fall into occasional depressions, and a lack of assurance of God's forgiveness and complete acceptance.

     Only when one's hope for acceptance with God is in CHRIST ONLY -- only when both eyes are glued on Jesus, instead of one on Jesus and the other on the sin-stained performances of the self -- are they liberated from all those afflicting things to experience peace, joy and release from the weight of burdens too heavy to carry.  John Owen was right in asking: "will you trust in your own personal inherent righteousness [which is always stained by sin and thus unrighteous or unacceptable righteousness], or in full renunciation of it, take to yourself the grace of God and righteousness of CHRIST ALONE."

     Blessed is the person who stops hoping and trusting in their own efforts, and looks instead to Christ alone for their pardon and acceptance with God.  As one who fell into this Grimshaw's mistake, I can tell you from personal experience what a blessed liberation comes as we get our eyes off us, and simply, "fix our eyes (of faith) on Jesus..." (Heb. 12:2).  And please notice it says "eyes" -- that is, both of them!  Not one eye of faith fixed on what you do, and the other one looking to what Jesus did, but BOTH OF THEM fixed on Jesus. For He is the only true object of saving faith, and faith in HIM ALONE is the only means of salvation or remedy for the countless malady's of the soul.

Living in the Grace of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

The Mystery of Prayer

Greetings All,

     After two weeks away I am back from a relaxing vacation! Time spent in nature, in the woods and mountains of New England, has its benefits in refreshing the soul!
     This morning a friend asked a question about prayer.  It was a question many ask, since prayer is something that takes time to understand, even though we will never fully comprehend the mystery of it. After all, there are so  many different views and opinions and approaches people have toward praying.  Therefore, I decided I would send out this "thought" on prayer by Gary Thomas, entitled: "The Mystery of Prayer."  It is found in his book, "Sacred Pathways."  It does not address the question asked this morning, but given the fact that most all people struggle at one time or another in their prayer life, I thought some might find it helpful and encouraging -- especially those who have encountered the often confusing dilemma called "unanswered prayer."  Enjoy.

The Mystery of Prayer

     "Is there anything more mysterious than prayer? Prayer moves us to call on a Being we cannot see and ask him to altar that which we can see.  Formulas do not work; rituals cannot guarantee success. Neither the length nor the form of prayer makes the prayer potent. This is why we need to create pockets of prayer in our lives, learning to trust God to come through in unexpected ways. There is an element of mystery, however, against which we sometimes rebel -- the mystery of unanswered prayer, or, perhaps more appropriately stated, prayers that receive the answer "no." 

     Because God sometimes answers our prayers with a yes, it can become intoxicating, and this intoxication can become so addicting that we begin to demand that God answer every prayer with a yes When a prayer doesn't get answered in the way we want it to be, we may mistakenly assume there must be hidden sin, lack of faith, or some other buried obstruction, which then sends us into hours of fruitless introspection.  But to demand that God answer all our prayers with a yes is to ask for his omnipotence (power) without having the benefit of his omniscience (knowledge).

     Looking back, I'm thankful that God said no to some of my prayers. The mystery of faith calls us to love and serve a God whom we can't always understand. We love this when the result satisfies us and God answers in ways that make our knees weak. It is much less exciting, however, when the mystery leads us to believe that God is silent, indifferent, or even cruel. Mystery is mystery. It has its exhilarating elements as well as frustrating ones, and we can't expect one without the other.

     The pursuit if maturity will lead virtually every one of us through this canyon of unanswered prayer, where expectancy runs dry and the only mystery seems to be where God is hiding. Understand that this is a necessary avenue on the destination to holiness and that it usually has an end -- in God's timing however."

     Some thoroughly enjoy prayer.  Some struggle with snags and disappointments in prayer.  And some have dispensed with prayer -- at least in the more formal sense -- though I do not believe it's possible for the true believer to dispense completely with conversational interaction with God. Few will go an entire lifetime without the "why's" of both answered and unanswered prayer, yet there is blessing in persevering. Just as a child passes through phases of equilibrium and disequilibrium in their trek to maturity, so also the person maturing in prayer goes through such phases. The key, in the famous words of Winston Churchill, is to, "Never, never, never give up." 

     With you in what is often the struggle to find God, and the pathway to the throne of His grace, in prayer, Pastor Jeff

The Pursuit of Holiness

Greetings All,

     This week's "thought" speaks of a topic which I don't hear much about any more -- holiness.  Therefore I thought it would be a good reminder for us all.  It is taken from Jerry Bridges book, "The Pursuit of Holiness."   I once had the privilege of hearing Mr. Bridges speak at a conference alongside John Piper, John MacArthur, and others. They were all good, but the one thing that struck me about Mr. Bridges (as opposed to the others, whose content was unquestionably superb) was his humility.  I can't remember all that he said, yet that was partly because I was so struck (distracted?) by the sense that here was a truly holy and humble man That's what stood out the most to me as I listened to him speak.  And it was confirmed a few years later when I took a class on "Grace and Discipline" with him while pursuing my doctorate. Thus I offer this selection on holiness from a humble man who took to heart the earnest pursuit of it.  Enjoy. 

     "God expects every Christian to live a holy life.  Holiness is not only expected; it is the promised birthright of every Christian.  Paul's statement in Rom. 6:14 is true: "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."  The concept of holiness may seem a bit archaic to our current generation. To some minds the very word holiness brings images of bunned hair, long skirts, and black stockings. To others the idea is associated with a repugnant "holier than thou" attitude.  Yet holiness is very much a Scriptural idea. The word "holy" in it's various forms occurs more than 600 times in the Bible.  One entire book, Leviticus, is devoted to the subject, and the idea of holiness is woven elsewhere throughout the fabric of Scripture.  More importantly, God specifically commands us to be holy (see Leviticus 11:44 / I Peter 1:16).

     The idea of exactly how to be holy has suffered from many false concepts.  In some circles, holiness is equated with a series of specific prohibitions -- no smoking, drinking, dancing, etc. The list of prohibitions varies depending on the group.  When we follow this approach to holiness, we are in danger of becoming like the Pharisees with their endless lists of trivial do's and don'ts, and their self-righteous attitude. For others, holiness means a particular style of dress and mannerisms. And for still others, it means unattainable perfection, an idea that fosters either delusion or discouragement about one's sin. All these ideas, while accurate to some degree, miss the true concept. To be holy is to be morally blameless. It is to be separated from sin and, therefore consecrated to God. The word signifies, "separation to God [to be set apart for God], and the conduct befitting those so separated."

     Perhaps the best way of understanding the concept of holiness is to note how writers of the New Testament used the word.  In I Thessalonians 4:3-7, Paul used the term in contrast to a life of immorality and impurity.  Peter used it in contrast to living according to the evil desires we had when we lived outside of Christ (I Peter 1:14-16).  John contrasted one who is holy with those who do wrong and are vile (Revelation 22:11).  To live a holy life, then, is to live a life in conformity to the moral precepts of the Bible and in contrast to the sinful ways of the world. It is to live a life characterized by the "[putting] off of your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.... and [putting] on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and  holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24)...

     At the risk of oversimplification, the lack of personal holiness can be grouped into three basic problem areas:

     1st) Our first problem is that our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered. We are more concerned about our own "victory" over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God. We cannot tolerate failure in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success-oriented, not because we know it is offensive to God.  W S. Plumer said, "We never see sin aright until we see it as against God...  All sin is against God in this sense: that it is His law that is broken, and His authority that is despised.... As the returning prodigal said, "I have sinned against heaven and before you," and David said to God (after his adulterous affair with Bathsheba), 'Against You, and You only, have I sinned."  God wants us to walk in obedience, not victory. Obedience is oriented toward God, victory is oriented toward self...

     2nd) Our second problem is that we have misunderstood "living by faith" (Galatians 2:20) to mean that no effort at holiness is required on our part. In fact, sometimes we have even suggested that any effort on our part is, "of the flesh." The words of J. C. Ryle are instructive to us at this point: "Is it wise to proclaim in so bold, naked and unqualified a way as many do, that the holiness of converted people is by faith only, without any personal exertion?  Is it according to the proportion of God's Word?  I doubt it. That faith in Christ is the root of all holiness, no well-instructed Christian will ever think of denying.  But surely the Scriptures teach us that in following holiness the true Christian needs personal exertion and work as well as faith."  We must face the fact that we have a personal responsibility for our walk of holiness...

     3rd) Our third problem is that we do not take some sin seriously.  We have mentally categorized sins into that which is unacceptable and that which may be tolerated a bit... But the Scripture tells us it is, "the little foxes that ruin the vineyards" (Song of Songs 2:15).  It is compromise on the little issues that leads to greater downfalls...   As Andrew Bonar said, "Is the Lord to be obeyed in all things whatsoever He commands? Is He a holy lawgiver? Are all His creatures bound to give implicit assent to His will?"  Are we willing to call sin "sin" not because it is big or little, but because God's law forbids it?  We cannot categorize sin (suggesting some sins are ok and others to be avoided) if we are to live a life of holiness... Will you begin to take personal responsibility for your sin, realizing that as you do, you must depend on God's grace?  And will you decide to obey God in all areas of life, however insignificant the issue may seem to you?"

     When it comes to "holiness" most all people view it in slightly different ways.  Some as stern and joyless, others as restrictive and still others as refreshing.  And some, having been exposed to a counterfeit version of it (which was super-strict, joyless and judgmental) -- want nothing to do with it.  Yet, we are (as Bridges points out) called to pursue it, and to do something in our pursuit of it, for our struggle with sin does require resisting temptation, repenting of sin, clothing ourselves with Christ, putting to death the sinful nature, and so on. 

     We are often so afraid of hearing someone accuse us of being "legalistic" that we shy away from the pursuit of holiness, forgetting that what makes something "legalistic" is not personal effort, but the thought that by that effort we are earning salvific credits, or securing our justification with God. It is thinking our obedience earns us our salvation.

     Yet the pursuit of holiness is not like that. It is simply seeking to avoid that which grieves the heart of the God who has so loved us that He saved us.  It is working from grace, not for grace. It is working from the place of God's acceptance, not for a place in His acceptance.  And it must be said that just because we have God's acceptance through Christ, and the Gospel, doesn't mean we stop seeking to do what pleases Him. It simply means we are secure in His acceptance as we seek to please Him.  "Legalism" seeks to gain an acceptance it feels it doesn't have through it's efforts; a sanctified pursuit of holiness simply pursues godliness as it rests in the acceptance it knows by faith that it already has and can't lose -- that's why it can't be called legalism.

     Living in the Grace of Jesus as we pursue the holiness that is our Christian birthright, Pastor Jeff