What comes to mind when you think about God?

Greetings!

     Let me start with a question: What comes to mind when you think about God?
     One particular man has said that your answer to that question, "is the most important thing about [you]."   So think about it again: "What comes into your mind when you think about God?"   This week's "thought" explains why he makes the above assertion.  It is taken from the book, "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A. W. Tozer, and I pass it along to you because I want to challenge you to think more deeply about what you believe about God.

     As with most of the "thoughts" I pass along, I believe Tozer is right in the things he says.  What we believe about God does have a tremendous effect upon who we are, what we do, and who we will become.  I pray that his words might cause you to earnestly consider, and if necessary make some adjustments, in relation to your view of God. In fact, if you desire a very thoughtful and readable consideration of what Scripture tells us God is like, this book is well-worth the cost and time it takes to read it (or listen to it) The following entry tells you why he wrote the book.  Enjoy.

     "What comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.  Worship is either pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.  We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but the company of Christians that composes the Church.  Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.

     Were we able to extract from any person a complete answer to the question, "What comes to mind when you think about God?" we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that person.  Were we able to know exactly what our most influential religious leaders think of God today, we might be able with some precision to foretell where the Church will stand tomorrow. Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God.  Thought and speech are God's gifts to creatures made in His image; these are intimately associated with Him and impossible apart from Him...  We may speak because God spoke.  In Him word and idea are indivisible.

That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us.  Compared with our actual thoughts of Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God.  A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well.  It is to worship what the foundation is to the Temple. Where it is inadequate or out of plumb, the whole structure must sooner or later collapse.  I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God...

     The church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshiping people. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic.  This low view of God... is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking.  With our loss of the sense of [God's] majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit. The words, "Be still and know that I am God," mean next to nothing to the self-confident bustling worshiper [of our day]...  The decline of the knowledge of the Holy has brought on our troubles...  A rediscovery of the majesty of God will go a long way toward curing those troubles. It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate.  If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is." 

     I have seen the truth of what he says play itself out in my own life, as well as in society.  You too (if you are the introspective type) may be able to see traces of that progression (in a positive or negative direction) in your own life.  We inevitably (subconsciously) take on the characteristics of the God that we worship.  In fact, speaking of idols and those who make them the psalmist says: "Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them" (Psalm 115:8).  This is why it makes such a difference what we believe about God.  "We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God," as Tozer put it.

     Do you believe God is permissive? You believe God is a heartless taskmaster?  You believe God is gracious and kind?  You believe God is a heartless rule-enforcer?  You believe God is Santa Claus in the sky?  Do you believe ______________?   The answer to these questions is extremely important, for you will gravitate toward exhibiting the characteristics of the God you envision.  As many have realized (and used for both good and bad purposes -- like the empathetic counselor who wants to free from guilt with the Gospel, or the terrorist who wants to enlist people to do unspeakable acts of cruelty): All you need to do to bring about change in a person is to change their view of God. 

     Which leads me to ask you one last time: "What comes to mind when you think about God?"   And to close, let me ask you to imagine how different you, and this world could be, if the answer to that question was, "Jesus." (Hebrews 1:3).

Just some food for thought, Pastor Jeff

The Transformation of American Religion

Greetings All,

     Today's 'thought' comes from Gary Gilley, and is found in Voice - An Independent Church Journal

(November/December 2013 issue). It deals with what many churches are doing to build up (grow) the church, and what we should be doing to grow it well.
     I found his thoughts helpful -- especially the critique by Alan Wolfe, a social scientist who is himself an unbeliever. Just some things to ponder...  Enjoy!



"One of the most insightful of recent books concerning the church is actually written by an unbeliever. Alan Wolfe, a social scientist, has been observing the changing American scene for years. A few years ago he shared his research in The Transformation of American Religion.  The message of his book is that 'religion in the United States is being transformed in radically new directions.'  Wolfe claims, 'talk of hell, damnation, and even sin has been replaced by a nonjudgmental language of understanding and empathy. Gone are the arguments over doctrine and theology... More Americans than ever proclaim themselves born again in Christ, but the Lord to whom they turn rarely gets angry and frequently strengthens self-esteem. [As a result] the faithful in the United States are remarkably like everyone else.'...
     Wolfe's thesis is that in an effort to win over American culture, Evangelicalism has stooped so low that it can no longer be distinguished from that culture. Take doctrine for example. Small-group Bible studies avoid theology like the plague, lest it prove divisive. Sermons are no better. 'Generally speaking, preaching in Evangelically oriented growth churches, however dynamic in delivery, has remarkably little actual content. Scripture is invariably cited but only as a launching pad to reinforce the message of salvation that Jesus can offer.'  And what kind of salvation is Jesus offering? Why, 'Jesus will save your soul, and your marriage, make you happy, heal your body, and even make you rich. Who wouldn't look twice at that offer?' 
     Nor is this a message found only in the Prosperity Gospel fringe. The wildly popular book, The Prayer of Jabez, written not too many years ago and endorsed, not to mention read, by mainstream Evangelicals, 'is a concept of religion so narcissistic that it makes prosperity theology look demanding by contrast.'...
     One mega-church pastor in Cincinnati describes his church growth philosophy with an 'almost' biblical quote: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is fun!' [Paul says 'freedom,' in II Cor. 3:17]. And another pastor in Houston frankly admits, 'I take what is worldly, and baptize it.'  These approaches are resulting in popularity. 'But popularity means bowing to, rather than resisting, popular culture, and since American popular culture is one that puts more emphasis on feeling good than thinking right, these movements tend to be especially hostile to potentially divisive doctrinal controversy.'  I find myself agreeing with this self-avowed unsaved man who concludes his book with this statement: 'This adherence to growth can have its frustrations; watching sermons reduced to PowerPoint presentations or listening to one easily forgettable praise song after another, makes one long for an Evangelicalism willing to stand up, Luther-like, and proclaim his opposition to the latest survey of Evangelical taste.' "

     Then, after pointing to Ephesians 4:11-16 as God's prescribed method for building up or growing the church -- pastors, teachers and church leaders 'equipping the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ'  --  he goes on to share that the word "equip" was a term used in the first century for the setting of broken bones.

     "When an arm is broken, for example, the arm is out of alignment and functionally useless." So, "how were they to equip the saints?... The instrument for equipping was, and is, the Word of God... It is the Scriptures that equip us for every good work (II Timothy 3:16-17).

     That is how God proposes His church be built up -- through the careful, accurate, clear preaching and teaching of His Word. Nothing else will accomplish the task. We can tell inspiring stories, sing beautiful or peppy music, professionalize our program and provide small groups for every conceivable interest, but if the Scripture is not diligently, systematically and correctly taught, Christ's people will not be equipped and the body will not be built up, period!...

     Congregations which focus on techniques, programs and entertainment, at the expense of the Word, may very well build large followings, but they will not build the church of God. Programs, drama and entertainment may amuse, soothe, inspire and stir the emotions, but they will not build Christians. Only the Word of God can do that... Those not being equipped by the teaching of the Word are left hopelessly entangled in a web of immaturity (I Tim. 4:11-16)... The day after a church retreat they are ready to follow the Lord anywhere, by Wednesday all enthusiasm is gone. While attending a Christian musical concert they are overflowing with feelings of love and warmth for the Lord and others. The next morning they don't 'feel' like reading the Scriptures or praying, and so they don't. When convicted of sin, they make strong pledges of future obedience. But a few days later they buckle under the same old temptations. They have mastered the art of selective obedience to Christ.

     Their faith, while possibly genuine, is superficial, lacking substance and power. They are truly 'tossed here and there by the waves' -- at the mercy of so many influences, fads, powerful personalities and temptations that float into their lives.... Rather than being equipped by the Word (or better, because they have not been equipped by the Word) these immature believers are taken in by false doctrines, con-artists, slick programs and campaigns. Place in front of them a great communicator and they lack the discernment to filter his message. Immature Christians are always chasing after the latest book or message promising them an instant spirituality.

     What is the remedy to this endless merry-go-round of childishness -- equipping the saints for the work of service...   The body is built up through the careful teaching of the Word of God and the application of that truth to the local church..." 

     Just some food for thought, and with it a call to return to God's methodology for building His church, Pastor Jeff

Strength in Prayer

Greetings All,
 
      I sent these 'thoughts' out last week to encourage those here in my church in Perkasie who are engaged in The Lord's Watch (Prayer Watch), where we have over 44 participants covering 77 hours a week in prayer.  
      Yet, since praying at scheduled times often involves persevering in prayer (or praying when you don't necessarily feel like it), I thought these thoughts might encourage all who have tried to make prayer a regular spiritual discipline.
      It's no new struggle.  The struggle to pray when tired, distracted or not in the mood is a struggle that dates back to the first disciples who fell asleep twice after being told by Jesus to pray and watch. Whenever we seek to establish the habit of scheduled prayer, there will be obstacles and we will all go through the inevitable ups and downs involved.  I myself have had to wrestle through them, though it's been a good discipline to stick to it.
      Thus I write to encourage all of you (like those in my church) to press on in prayer! The Lord waits to meet with you. Your prayers do have an impact. The Lord listens, hears, and responds. And yes, sometimes He tests our resolve. So keep those appointments, and pray so long as you have breath, letting no thwarted attempt or failure to be disciplined discourage you from picking up where you left off!

I include a few encouragements to pray. They are by well-known pray-ers of the past. I trust their words will inspire you to persevere and press on in the ongoing fight to "bring every thought captive to Christ" (II Cor. 10:5). Enjoy.

The Seven Steps to Strength in Prayer (as seen in Christ's determination to pray in the garden prior to his crucifixion).  Adapted from J. Doyle Masters.

 

1.)  Have a special place to pray - "Jesus went to the Mount of Olives..."
2.)  Develop a regular practice of prayer - "as was His custom."
3.)  Let it be a private place - "He withdrew about a stone's throw from them..."
4.)  Have a comfortable yet reverent posture - "He knelt down and prayed."
5.)  Have a submissive, selfless, willingness to pursue obedience - "nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done."

6.)  Pray with earnest purpose remembering that prayer is not a performance but a godly impulse to fight self-will and embrace God's will - "And being in agony He prayed all the more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground." 

7.)  Be prepared to be filled with power - "There appeared to Him an angel from heaven to strengthen Him." 

 

Persistence in Prayer by Sir Francis Drake (c.1543-1596 A.D.)

 

    "O Lord God, when Thou callest Thy servants to endeavor in any great matter,
     Grant us to know that it is not the beginning,
     But our continuing on with it until it be thoroughly finished,
     Which yields the true glory,
     Through Him that to the finishing of Thy great work,
     Laid down His life."

 

What is Needed To Pray Aright by Benedict of Nursia (480-547A.D.)

"O gracious and holy Father,
      Give us wisdom to perceive Thee,

Intelligence to understand Thee,
Diligence to pursue Thee,

Patience to wait for Thee,

Eyes to behold Thee,

A heart to meditate upon Thee,

And a life to proclaim Thee;

Through the power of the Spirit,

Of Jesus Christ the Lord."

 

A Right Attitude in Prayer by John Donne (1572-1631)

"O Lord, never suffer us to think,

that we can stand by ourselves,

and not need Thee."

 

The Reasons Why by... Unknown

 

 

"Not till the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly,Shall God unfold the canvas, And reveal the reasons why, The dark threads are as needful, In the Weaver's skillful hand, As the threads of gold and silver, In the pattern He has planned."

   

     Should you lose the desire to pray, you need simply persevere and pray for it to be restored. Because it is true -- we are even dependent upon Him for that!  Do all that you must, and whatever you must, but don't give up!  For as Richard Sibbes reminds us: "When we go to God in prayer, the devil knows we go to fetch power against him, and therefore he opposes us all he can."

     Prayer is not just a spiritual activity or discipline, as Richard Baxter points out, it is, "The breath of the new creature."  "It is," says Hooker, "the first thing with which the righteous life begins, and the last thing with which it ends." Few things are as important to our spiritual life or our relationship with God as prayer. 

 

 

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

Truth

Greetings All, 

     This week's thought comes from one of my favorite authors -- J. I. Packer.  It is found in his classic work, Knowing God.  Not that copies sold guarantees good content, but it has sold more than three million copies worldwide and is considered by many to be a book that should be a reference book on the shelf of every serious Christian. In fact, if you are looking for a book to use for a discipleship class for new believers, or a discussion group for Christians of any age or maturity level, this one should be high on the list.  It is filled with tremendously helpful insights into the Gospel and Christian living.

     Today's thought has to do with truth. But not just truth as "brute objective facts."  It has to do with truth as a revelation of the person of God. It speaks of how truth is personal (better yet, how truth is a Person -- as Jesus reminded us when He said, "I AM the truth..." ). And it shows how truth heeded brings immense benfits into people's lives.  I found it a good reminder.  I trust you will as well.  Enjoy.

      "Truth in the Bible is a quality of persons primarily, and of propositions only secondarily.  It means stability, reliability, firmness, trustworthiness, the quality of a person who is entirely self-consistent, sincere, realistic, undeceived.  God is such a person: truth, in this sense, is his nature, and he has not got it in him to be anything else. 

       That is why he cannot lie (Tit 1:2; Num 23:19; I Sam 15:29; Heb. 6:18).  That is why his words to us are true, and cannot be other than true.  They are the index of reality. They show us things as they really are, and as they will be for us in the future, depending on whether we heed God's words to us or not...

       Psalm 119:151 says, 'All your commands are true.'  Why are they so described?  First, because they have stability and permanence as setting forth what God wants to see in human lives in every age.  And second, because they tell us the unchanging truth about our own nature. For this is the purpose of God's law: it gives us a working definition of true humanity. It shows us what we were made to be, teaches us how to be truly human, and warns us against moral self-destruction. This is a matter of great importance, and one which calls for much consideration at the present time.

      We are familiar with the thought that our bodies are like machines, needing the right routine of food, rest and exercise if they are to run efficiently, and liable, if filled up with the wrong fuel -- alcohol, drugs, poison -- to lose their power of healthy functioning and ultimately to 'seize up' entirely in physical death. 

      What we are slower to grasp is that God wishes us to think of our souls in a similar way.  As rational persons, we were made to bear God's moral image--that is, our souls were made to 'run' on the practice of worship, law-keeping, truthfulness, honesty, discipline, self-control, and service to God and our fellow human beings.  If we abandon these practices, not only do we incur guilt before God; we also progressively destroy our own souls. Conscience atrophies, the sense of shame dries up, one's capacity for truthfulness, loyalty and honesty is eaten away, and one's character disintegrates. One not only becomes desperately miserable; one is steadily being dehumanized.  This is one aspect of spiritual death. 

      Richard Baxter was right to formulate the alternatives as 'A Saint or a Brute.'  That, ultimately, is the only choice, and everyone, sooner or later, consciously or unconsciously opts for one or the other.  Nowadays some will maintain, in the name of humanism, that the 'Puritan' sexual morality of the Bible is contrary to the attainment of true human maturity, and that a little more license makes for richer living.  Of this ideology we would only say that the proper name for it is not humanism, but brutism.  Sexual laxity does not make you more human, but less so.  It brutalizes you and tears your soul to pieces.  The same is true wherever any of God's commandments are disregarded.  We are only living truly human lives just so far as we are laboring to keep God's commandments; and no further."   

      Much of our culture's 'live for the moment, run on your feelings, indulge every pleasure, give in to every urge, and focus on the sensual instead of the eternal' has led to damaged souls, personal frustration, disillusionment, broken homes and marriages, and dysfunction in all levels of society.  We have forgotten (or chosen to ignore the fact) that order, and limits, and consistency, and virtue, and self-humbling worship, and self-discipline, and self-restraint are 'exercises' the soul needs to be trained in in order to be healthy and strong and weather the storms of life. And because they are so neccessary to health in life and society, it should come as no surprise that the Bible -- which encourages them all -- should do so.

   

      Packer is right.  People almost universally seem to know the routines needed to keep their bodies healthy and fit -- as if that were the most important thing. Yet they so often fail to apply those same principles to the soul.  We take so much care of the temporal, the decaying, and that which will pass away, and tend to ignore (to a large extent) the things most valuable and eternal.

     In the long run (in the light of eternity) it would be far wiser for us to train the eternal soul to be fit and godly, than to train the perishable body to have a mere decade or more of slightly better mobility and a little more energy.  Quality of life in this life has all but replaced the Christian emphasis on preparation for eternal life.  

     But, of course, such a change in priority and the paradigm shift it requires, would mean really believing that the things eternal and invisible far outweigh the things temporal and visible -- and that would require a radical counter-culture stance in nearly every way.  Hopefully, though, care for what matters most will win out, and you will make the necessary changes regardless of being counted in the minority when you do. It will never be otherwise, for narrow is the way that leads to life, and wide is the way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13).  

With concern for what really matters,  Pastor Jeff

Setting Time Off

Greetings All,

This week's 'thought' comes to you from the late Henri Nouwen (1932-1997). It is found in "Devotional Classics," edited by Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith, and consists of small excerpts taken from Nouwen's book, "Making All Things New." It has to do with the need for the spiritual discipline of solitude in our prayer lives. I share it with you because as I read it this morning it spoke both a corrective and encouraging word to me. I pray it will do so for you as well. Enjoy.

"Our worried, over-filled lives... are usually surrounded by so much outer noise that it is hard to truly hear our God when he is speaking to us. We have often become deaf, unable to know when God calls us, and unable to understand in which direction he calls us. Thus our lives have become absurd. In the word absurd we find the Latin word 'surdus' which means 'deaf.' A spiritual life requires discipline because we need to learn to listen to God, who constantly speaks but whom we seldom hear. When, however, we learn to listen, our lives become obedient lives. The word obedient comes from the Latin word 'audire' which means 'listening.' The spiritual discipline of listening is necessary in order to move slowly from an absurd to an obedient life, from a life filled with noisy worries to a life in which there is some free inner space where we can listen to our God and follow his guidance...

A spiritual discipline, therefore, is the concentrated effort to create some inner and outer space in our lives where this obedience can be practiced... Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. Solitude begins with a time and a place for God, and him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists, but also that he is actively present in our lives -- healing, teaching and guiding -- we need to set aside time, and set aside a space, to give him our undivided attention. Jesus says, 'Go to your private room and, when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place." (Matt. 6:6 Jerusalem Bible).

To bring some solitude into our lives is one of the most necessary but also most difficult disciplines. Even though we may have a deep desire for real solitude, we also experience a certain apprehension as we approach that solitary place and time. As soon as we are alone, without people to talk with, books to read, TV to watch, or phone calls to make [and we could add, texts to answer, Facebook posts to respond to, or computer games to distract us] an inner chaos opens up in us. This chaos can be so disturbing and so confusing that we can hardly wait to get busy again.

Entering a private room and shutting the door, therefore, does not mean that we immediately shut out all our inner doubts, anxieties, fears, bad memories, unresolved conflicts, angry feelings, and impulsive desires. On the contrary, when we have removed our outer distractions, we often find that our inner distractions manifest themselves to us in greater force. We often use those outer distractions of life to shield us from the interior noises. For this reason it is not surprising that we have a difficult time being alone. The confrontations with our inner conflicts can be too painful for us to bear.

Yet this makes the discipline of solitude all the more important. Entering into solitude doesn't come naturally to an occupied and preoccupied life... Therefore we must begin by carefully planning some solitude into our schedule. Five or ten minutes a day may be all we can tolerate... an hour, an afternoon, a day, a week every year... The amount of time will vary for each person according to temperament, age, job, lifestyle, and maturity. But we do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside some time to be with God and listen to him. We may have to write it in black and white in our daily calendar so that nobody else can take away this period of time. Then we will be able to say to our friends, neighbors, students, customers, clients, or patients, "I'm sorry, but I've already made an appointment at that time and it can't be changed."

Once we have committed ourselves to spending time in solitude, we develop an attentiveness to God's voice in us... The pains and struggles we encounter in solitude become a way to hope, because that hope is not based on something that will happen after our sufferings are over, but on the real presence of God's healing Spirit in the midst of these sufferings. The discipline of solitude allows us gradually to come in touch with the hopeful presence of God in our lives, and allows us to taste even now the beginnings of the joy and peace which belong to the new heaven and new earth."

Three things hit me when I read his thoughts:

1.) The hardest "work" I may have to do in my whole day is the work of forcing myself to do nothing but sit, stop dwelling on what needs to get done, and listen! For most of us it is an intense struggle to become still and attentive toward God, since as Americans we wrestle with feeling "lazy" and "unproductive" if we spend more than 10 or 15 minutes a day in prayer. Culture has taught the little voice of conscience in our heads to function like an alarm clock that says: "Get up off your knees and DO something for goodness sake!" "Hurry," as Samuel Chadwick once said, "is the death of prayer."

2.) Realizing this is true I must set boundries and limits to my labor, activities and interactions with people in order to protect my time alone with God. I may get a lot done through constant activity and busyness, and that feels good, but without significant times of quiet prayer my spirit will shrivel and atrophy over time. As one book title reminds us, we are "Too Busy Not To Pray."

3.) To my shame I realize I have rarely broken an appointment with any person in order to spend time with God, but I have frequently, at a moments notice, broken set appointments with God to spend time with people -- even when there was no urgency involved. I need to take Nouwen's advice to heart and "say to (my) friends, neighbors, students, customers, clients, or patients, "I'm sorry, but I've already made an appointment at that time and it can't be changed."

With you in the struggle, Pastor Jeff