Christian Influence In Culture (Wrap Up)

So, how should Christians address sin in the world? The question is clearly too broad to answer in a sweeping sentence or two. As far as this discussion goes, I have broken the topic down into two parts. The first is how Christians should deal with sin we see in those around us, most specifically non-Christians we know or have contact with. We just finished up a two part sermon series on this. You can find both sermons on our website here. The second element is how we deal with sin conceptually in society, or sin that is brought before us through our societal media and culture.

To deal with how we should address sin, we have to deal with the topic of judgment. It has been my experience today that the most common response to the question of how we deal with sin is that we must address what Jesus says about judgment. This was the first part of the series above, so I would direct you to that sermon for an examination of Matthew 7. Because these two topics are interchangeable, Biblically, it would be very helpful to listen to this sermon to gain some perspective for the rest of this article. You can find that sermon here.

Once the issue of judgment is understood and factored in, how do we respond to cultural views of sin? Fear, humility, or uncertainty are no excuse to deny the reality of God’s Law, or the consequences of violating it. What God says is right and wrong is right and wrong.

What would our intentions be in holding up the Biblical standard of sin? Should we try to reform society? Should we try to create the most sinless society possible, even if the people within that society don't know or embrace Christ? I don't think that should be our end goal. We are not talking about legislating spirituality here, or shaming people into better actions. However, making clear what separates people from God should be something we care greatly about. Without understanding the bad news of our spiritual condition, how will we understand the Good News of the Gospel? While we are not striving to create a godly society out of people who don't know God, we do want people to understand their condition, and the sin which so easily entangles them.

Societally, we in America have gone from a people who, in our past, were fairly well educated in the Biblical view of sin and righteousness, to a people who see themselves as “moving past” such labels as sin. Europe has fully made this journey, ahead of us. Today, many of the elements of God’s Law have been summarily dismissed in many European countries, and people would be surprised to hear that they are somehow seen as wrong by anyone. Christians in those cultures regularly lament how hard it is to talk about salvation, because the people don't feel particularly entangled in sin. We in America are moving quickly in that direction.

What is the Christian’s role who lives in a society like ours?

It is impossible for me to address how “Christians” should react to any particular demonstration of sin in our society. Each of us is in a different place in society, and has different spheres of influence. However, there is one thing we can say. We are to be moved to believe and to act based on God’s Word, and not on societal beliefs, or our fears of those around us.

Far too often, Christians who are honest will say that they don’t want to confront sin because of fear or discomfort. It is clearly true that the Christian who stands up and calls sin what it is has a great likelihood of being ridiculed, or at the least, will be thought of as bad, old fashioned, or intolerant. I believe that there is a great deal of shame among Christians today, regarding God’s Law. Few Christians want to speak openly about it. In fact, whole churches have decided to do away with discussing sin all together. I suspect that many Christians don't want to hold God's Law up for two reasons. We are afraid of how others will see us if we do, and we ourselves don’t hold it in the high regard it deserves. This is a bad, and even dangerous place to be.

The reality of sin is an integral part of the Gospel message. The Good News is not that Jesus came. Because He was the rightful and legitimate Judge, that could easily have been bad news for me. The Good News is that Jesus came, lived a perfect life, died for MY SIN, and rose from the dead. If I am not keenly aware that my sinfulness is an abomination to God, and that it causes me to be spiritually dead, separated from God, I have no need for Jesus. His coming is not necessarily good news. It is simply news. The fact is that we need a Savior from sin, not from dysfunction, or more commonly today, from mistakes. Scripture does not say that God hates when we accidentally say two plus two equals five - a mistake. It says He hates our sin. This is the truth that we as Christians have, that we know. Wanting to hide that truth is on the same level as wanting to hide Christ Himself.

Motive becomes a central key to knowing how to respond to sinfulness. Acting (or not acting) out of fear of looking bad to others is wrong. At the same time, acting out of a desire to exalt ourselves by pointing out the weakness in others is equally wrong (see above sermon on Matthew 7). Finally, not holding up God’s Law because we ourselves are not perfect may well be wrong.

If asked at work or school, “What do you think about this Tiger Woods thing,” how should you respond? Our response needs to be led by our knowledge of how God feels about such things. What Tiger did was wrong. It is what God calls sin. This sinfulness is in all of us, including and especially me, but that does not lessen the sinfulness in front of us. What Tiger needs is what I need. He needs forgiveness from that sin from God Himself, and He needs the Spirit of God inside of him, so that He has at least the opportunity to walk in God’s righteousness, and not his flesh.

How should we respond to sin in society? With the humility of a sinner who’s flesh is as weak as anyone else’s. With the certainty of son or daughter of God, who understands how our Father feels about sin. With wisdom and the leading of the Spirit of God. Not afraid. Not arrogant. Like everything else, it is not about us, it is about Him. Glorify God in all that you do and say.

How's Your Listening?

Yesterday I was reading a blog post about listening to God during prayer. I thought it would be good topic to discuss here.

A "Modern" Problem

I believe that the culture we live in make it much harder than it would ordinarily be to quiet our minds. Things in this society happen at 70 miles per hour, and sometimes at the speed of light. I used to have a pastor who would say that we humans were built to encounter life at 4 miles per hour. Add to that the fact that I tend to really like a faster pace, and embrace, to some extent, the pace of the modern world. However, this has costs. Our minds get used to taking in and working on thing after thing, being entertained, having things come at us fast, keeping us engaged.

Imagine life in a non-modern world - walking to work, wherever that would be, largely by yourself every day. Imagine doing whatever work you do with no phones, computers, cars, etc. Imagine no computer/phone/television when you got home. Your mind would be used to being more quiet and still. However, my mind is not.

Listening

Several years after becoming a Christian, I was exposed to the concept of “listening to God” when I pray. It was a strange concept, but something I learned to do fairly well when praying with others in the group I was in. We would have long periods of silence, and I could hear/sense God guiding and directing me. However, I had a hard time doing this in my personal prayer time. A couple of minutes into “listening,” my mind would be wandering onto wholly secular things, I’d be entirely distracted. Over time and with some council, I developed some things that worked to help me focus. Over the years, others have found nuggets from my experiences that were useful for themselves in this, so I thought I’d share what it is that I do to quiet my mind before the Lord.

There are two things that I’ve found that help me to hear the Lord better. The first might be considered form, or technique. The second is more of an intervention.

My mind is rarely a quiet place. When I go to the Lord, I have found that I really need to get quiet whether I am “talking” to God, or “listening,” or even often times when I am studying God’s Word. So, in my times alone with the Lord, that is the first thing I try to do. I work on clearing the junk out of my mind. I get still before the Lord. At first, thoughts are popping up almost every second. Within a minute or two of just being in God’s presence, I can usually extend that to 10 to 15 seconds.

At that point, I’ll often begin to praise/worship Him. This is often just giving praise, which nearly always brings to mind lines of worship songs. I’ll begin singing praises to the Lord, alternating back to praises, and to singing, as my mind falls on each. My intent is to clear my mind of anything but God’s presence and my worship of Him. I need this to be a still, quiet time, not “vigorous” praise, for lack of a better word. This will usually quiet my mind more, and I am ready to go. I can focus more correctly when I am talking to the Lord or reading the Word. I’m also more ready to ask God to speak or guide me, and to listen.

When I sit quietly to listen at this point, I still am prone to distraction. Again, when random thoughts are popping up, I’ll put them away, and focus part of my mind on praising/singing, but alert to what He might be guiding me toward. Hearing/sensing God’s voice is something I have learned to recognize and hear. It is usually there, I just need to listen for it.

The second thing that helps me in an over all way to listen to the Lord is to retreat for the purpose of quiet prayer. This is something I try to do at regular intervals in my life, but often gets pushed off my calendar. At various times in my life, I have tried to get away as often as once a week, to sometimes once a month. On top of this, when I am having a hard time focusing when I am with the Lord, I know it’s time to get away. Sometimes these “retreats” are a couple of hours. Sometimes they last most of the day.

To “retreat,” I will often go to the mountains, sit by a lake or stream, find somewhere quiet and comfortable. When I don’t have that time, I will find a place I can be alone for a long period of time, with no phones or computers or distractions.

I sometimes have a structure to these times, other times I don’t. the process is usually pretty similar to my regular prayer times, only more fully, and in a more cyclical way. Quiet myself, praise/singing, talking, listening, praises/singing, reading, listening, taking a break time (maybe listen to worship with my headphones, but generally trying to keep my mind fairly quiet), then back into prayer, etc. When I get a bit tired of concentrating, I’ll take a break. If I’m doing this for many hours, I’ll allow my breaks to be full breaks, where I walk around throw rocks, etc. Actually, I occasionally incorporate walking in my prayer time as well, but during those times, I work hard on not getting distracted. During my breaks, I allow myself to be more distracted, think about life, etc. Often this brings to mind other things to talk to and hear the Lord about.

These times of retreat are not always fun, and parts of them are sometimes really frustrating to me. When my mind is particularly active, it is real work, and really annoying, to keep quieting myself. Over time, it usually gets better. If it doesn’t, it usually is a sign that I have waited too long to get really quiet, and I will retreat again as quickly as possible, until it gets easier.

Finally, public prayer can be really helpful in this process. When I have had regular prayer meetings with people of like mind, who understand the idea of praising and listening, it lifts my whole prayer life. There is truly something about praying with the Body in this way. I’m not talking about getting together to pray over a list of concerns or agendas. I’m talking about a group of people just approaching the Lord together, to praise and to listen, to try to allow the Lord to lead the prayer time. These times impact my prayer life as much as any other single element.

Christian Influence In Culture (Revisited)

A couple of articles ago, we brought up the topic of how Christians should address obvious sin in society, and in prominent people in society. How should we deal with Tiger Woods, or others who's sin becomes "public?" Should we hold up God's Law in a public way, or should we take the position of "grace," making sure we are not judging others, in accordance with Matthew 7?

We received some great responses. We appreciate each of them. It can be hard to put oneself out there, to take a clear, direct stand on such a topic. At this point, I'd like to try to move the conversation a little further. I'd like to ask a couple of questions, based on the current replies, just for the sake of discussion. If you have not read the article or the comments, I'd recommend you do that now, before reading on.

Concern was rightly expressed about judging others, when we are still sinful ourselves.

So, what happens if the Christians in a society quit holding up the standard God laid out? If Christians don't speak out loud, to what the Bible calls "sin," how will people know they need a Savior? What do they need saving from?

If we can't be so judgmental as to verbally identify and make clear what sin is, what does that make of the atonement of Jesus? The Jesus we hold up is not here to save us from the penalty of our sins, because we can't be so judgmental as to tell people that they are in sin. He becomes what I call, the "therapy Jesus." He'll help you work through any problems you might have. The problem is, this is very different than the picture that the Bible paints. Jesus came specifically to pay the price for our sins.

Finally, what do we make of the New Testament writers? They were keenly aware of their sinfulness. They tell us about it directly. And yet these very people were still radically blunt in calling sin what it is. Even in very direct ways, aimed at particular people.

Having said all that, and asking such questions, we still have to deal with that mandate from Jesus Himself. The command not to judge, lest we be judged...

Please feel free to comment, to further the discussion.

Fully Human, Fully God

I recently watched a news interview show, where the guest began talking about Christianity. He wasn't hostile toward Christianity, and was warm when talking about the Christians he knew. However, he began asking questions of the host, about the divinity of Jesus. He said he couldn't grasp the idea of a person being fully human, and fully God. He genuinely wanted to understand the "Christian view" of this. The host, who neither flaunts nor hides the fact that he considers himself a Christian, tried several different ways to explain it. He failed miserably.

As I watched this interview, I was alternately in agony, and amused. While I can give some stock answers, I can't make this mystery clear. As an expositor of God's Word, that is my usual goal. However, the truth is, there are many things about God that we cannot explain such that they "make sense." They merely are. In a sermon on Isaiah 9, Charles Spurgeon addressed this particular mystery this way:

"Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given." As Jesus Christ is a child in his human nature, he is born, begotten of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. He is as truly-born, as certainly a child, as any other man that ever lived upon the face of the earth. He is thus in his humanity a child born. But as Jesus Christ is God's Son, he is not born; but given, begotten of his Father from before all worlds, begotten—not made, being of the same substance with the Father. The doctrine of the eternal affiliation of Christ is to be received as an undoubted truth of our holy religion. But as to any explanation of it, no man should venture thereon, for it remaineth among the deep things of God—one of those solemn mysteries indeed, into which the angels dare not look, nor do they desire to pry into it—a mystery which we must not attempt to fathom, for it is utterly beyond the grasp of any finite being. As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God. If we could grasp him he could not be infinite: if we could understand him, then were he not divine."

This Christmas, let's delight in the magnitude of the mystery. Born in a barn, His first bed a feed trough, Fully Human, Fully God.

Christian Influence In Culture

Christians today seem to be torn between two Biblical concepts, when it comes to our culture. The first is the role of the people of God, and often the role of the Prophet of God, within a society. God regularly used both the Prophet, and His people in general, to highlight general Lawlessness within a society, as well as the Lawlessness of influential people within a society. On the other hand, Christians today are very sensitive to the instruction to not be “judgmental.” There is a pervasive sense that we should deal with sinfulness with "grace, not Law.”

How should Christians react to blatant disregard of God’s Law? Should we embrace the belief that we shouldn’t be particularly surprised that non-Christians are violating God’s Laws, and should not try to reform their behavior while they are “spiritually dead?” Should we hold to the belief that to remain silent in such areas means that we are devaluing God’s universal Laws? Once humans fell from grace, did the status of obeying God’s Law then only apply to the Believer? What about those who think that, in fact, God’s Law applies more to the non-Believer than it does the Believer?

Should Christians be speaking out against the behavior of Tiger Woods? By massive margin, he was just voted “Athlete of the Decade.” The majority of these votes were turned in after his marital infidelity was brought to light. Through all this publicity he is getting, the vast majority of other golfers, and a majority of sportscasters for that matter, are talking about how they “support Tiger,” whatever that means. Should we also be publicly “supporting” him, or should we be publicly pointing out that he blatantly and repeatedly violated perhaps the only “sacred vows” he will ever take in his life? Should we speak of integrity and honor, or of grace and forgiveness?

My take is coming soon. What do YOU think?

Ramblings on Family

Some issues and questions to ponder and discuss… Last night, our weekly study of the “Truth Project” discussed, among other things, the nature of family. The emotion of the topic could be clearly seen in a particular part of the video. The topic stirs deep passion in people – if you doubt this, just challenge someone’s view of family. The claws come out quickly.

What is a family? How do you define it? In our video last night, some people said freely that it didn’t matter how you were related, but how close you were to people. Close friends were defined as family. People who help us were defined as family. However, if that is true, what might that mean? Others said that we are all family. Yet others talked about family as bloodlines, essentially meaning the sharing of DNA. How do we analyze these? What does God have to say about family?

The Bible clearly references husbands and wives, parents and children as families. It even talks at length about how these families should operate. What else does it define as “family?” The “family of God” is clearly discussed in Scripture. This is based on the fact that those who know Jesus are children of God, making us all brothers and sisters. Jesus also eludes to this. When some people came to Jesus and told Him that His mother and brothers were looking for Him, Jesus responds by saying, “…Whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

Clearly we can rule out family being based on feelings. As everyone who has ever lived in any family knows, feelings can swing significantly. Imagine if family was based on how we happen to feel about someone. We would have no consistent family. People in relationships would be family, and then not family, and then family again so often we wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves. Also, while there might be some level of brotherhood with all the people of earth, or the people in a country for that matter, it is hard to hold to that definition of family based on Scripture.

So, what do we do with our “spiritual family,” and our “natural family?” Does one take precedent over the other? That was clearly the assumption of the people who came to Jesus to inform Him that His relatives were looking for Him. Jesus seems to answer in a way that turns things on their head. He seems to be saying that He (and by supposition, we should also) put as much, or more emphasis on those who are part of the family of God, and are serving as such. How do we reconcile that with what most of us feel is true?

While Scripture doesn’t see fit to give us weights and measures to come to a precise, all encompassing answer, we can see it work itself out in Scripture. While all those who know Jesus are brothers and sisters, the admonitions to acting like family are written to local Bodies, as to how they should live together. This does not diminish the very real bond we often find instantly with Believers we’ve never met. However, there is truth to the fact that if “everyone is family,” than no one is family. Trying to have a special relationship with everyone takes away the very definition of “special.”

Regardless of technicalities, Scripture is clear that our first sphere of influence (spiritually first and foremost) should be our “natural family.” Whether you see spiritual family and natural family as all part of the same unit, with differing specified roles, or if you see them as completely different but complimentary, there is one hugely significant Biblical mandate. That is commitment.

Today, if you begin having problems with your job or your friends, or your grocery store, you move on. That same thing is happening with “family.” Divorce is the very picture of this. Kids want to move away from parents, parents want to move away from kids. The same is true of spiritual families. Christians are quick to pack up and move on, often based on how we feel, or how entertaining things are. I heard a pastor say recently that “boredom is by far the biggest reason people leave their church families.” I don’t know how that can be proved or disproved, but I know it is a major factor with many people.

What family or families do you belong to? How committed are you to those relationships? Are you being what you should be with the family God wants you to be actively involved in?

“Significant” Prayer?

I was talking with a pastor friend today, and the topic of group prayer came up. We found ourselves discussing what makes some prayer groups and prayer times seem so much more significant, meaningful, and energizing than others.

Mission trips seem to bring powerful prayer times, often every day of the trips. Retreats, prayer during difficult times, times of new ministries, and other circumstances seem to create life-altering prayer times. However, over time, both of us have been part of prayer groups who’s prayer times seemed to be always filled with the presence and guidance of the Spirit, and would impact the participants all day or all week, with no seemingly outside reason. Why?

Bringing a list of needs to God of people around us is a fine thing to do. I believe God wants us to lift up those who have needs. However, even doing this it seems, can either be life-giving, or just something we do. Again, what makes the difference?


Need To Be Close To God

Whether in my personal prayer time, or in groups, there is a real difference between doing what I “should”, or what would be good to do, and coming to God because I NEED to be near Him. At least for me, the more I am aware of my need to be close to Him, the more powerful the time. If my time with the Lord is just a phone call to God to ask Him to do me a favor, it will probably be unrewarding, will lack any power, and might not even be real Biblical prayer. However, if I come to God to be near Him, to cry out to Him, to praise Him because I NEED TO PRAISE HIM, everything is different, even if I am talking to Him about you.

A friend described to me what it was like to parachute for his first time. He said he was pretty nervous about it when he got to the airport. He met with the instructor he would be jumping with. As they talked, discussing the event with this expert was very significant to him, and he described this time in glowing terms. It gave him confidence, and a sense of “rightness” about what was coming. He was going to be entirely dependent on his instructor through the entire jump, and this conversation gave him the confidence that all would work out as it should.

This is often the missing ingredient in our prayers. Each and every day is an adventure, and we have the best guide the world has ever seen. When we all come together to be close to God, with a driving sense that we NEED to be close to God, we are overwhelmed by His presence, and we are changed in our hearts. This is true in my personal prayer life. It is also a great reality when a group of people get together to draw close to God, with a sense of need. He meets us in a powerful and special way.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? - GOD KNOWS...

I found the following comment by the president of Yale regarding the recent Yale grad student's murder, germane and apropos to our recent discussion of EVIL in last evenings tour in the Truth Project. Having a daughter or similar age and high academic capability & mental acuity, I found this act particularly alarming and despicable.

The president of Yale, Richard Levin, released a statement shortly after the arrest, saying Clark's employment history gave no indication he was capable of such a crime. ( the natural man is a walking time bomb, a inactive terrorist cell, waiting to be activated and deployed by the Father of Lies, the King of all Murderers.)

"This incident could have happened in any city, in any university, or in any workplace. It says more about the dark side of the human soul than it does about the extent of security measures," Levin said in a message sent to the Yale community.

This type of incident will not happen in the City of God....the New Jerusalem. But it is all to commonplace in the city of man! Babylon the Great.

Revelation 21

Of The New Heaven and Earth

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

³And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

⁴and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."

⁵And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new " And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."

⁶Then He said to me, " It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

⁷"He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

⁸" But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

²²I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

²³And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

²⁴⁾The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

²⁵In the daytime (for there will be no night there)its gates will never be closed;

²⁶and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;

²⁷and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Be of good courage brethren. Look to the Scriptures for strength and sustenance, fortitude and encouragement.

These are the times that try men's souls!

He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”

To Tell the Truth

Most of us feel like we are pretty truthful. We also tend to think that we have a pretty good handle on what is truth, and what it is not. Do you “walk in the truth?” Most of us, at least those who follow Jesus, would say yes.

Walking in truth means seeing truth clearly. It means accepting what is true. However, it also means facing, and then owning the truth. It is one thing to admit something is true if we are asked. It is another to possess and walk in that truth.

Examples of this are all around us. Several cases of “bad behavior” have been before us in the media for several months. Last week, tennis player Serena Williams chewed out a line judge at the U.S. Open, over a call she did not like. During her tirade, she told the small female judge, in the coarsest language possible, that, among other things, she was going to “shove this ball down your ____ throat.”

In the post-match interview, she said, “I don’t think I threatened her… I was in the moment… I was passionate and emotional...” Because this did nothing to squelch the outcry, she has since made more attempts to explain her behavior. She has apologized to her fans, saying that she displayed “actions outside my character.”

Now, Williams may be right that this type of outburst is not characteristic of her. What little I have seen of her play, she is a fierce competitor, but I have never seen any such outbursts or behavior. What is interesting to me, though, is the attitude of justification. While it frustrates me to hear things like, “in the moment,” and “actions outside my character,” it also resonates with me. If I’m honest, I often feel the same way about things I think or do, and want to give the same qualifications.

When our depravity shows itself, we want to take the edge off of the truth. Think about the last time your “flesh” flagrantly showed itself. Think about how you wanted to cover it up, or at least smooth it over. That desire is a desire to not walk in truth. Truth would say, “What I did was wrong, (perhaps) hurt someone else, and it happened because of the sinfulness that pollutes my very soul. I can’t say anything more.” That is truth. While most who know the Lord “know” this, we often don’t like owning, or walking in that truth.

Interestingly though, sometimes we would rather “own” that truth, than the truth brought to us by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That ultimate truth is that because God now lives in us, we don’t have to walk in that depravity. We have been freed from sin. However, it is sometimes easier to say to ourselves or others, “This is just a weakness I have… I really can’t do anything else… I can’t get a handle on this…” Doing this denies the greatest truth of all. Jesus died so that we would no longer walk in sinfulness, but in His righteousness and goodness. Owning that truth means walking in the truth, which means overcoming sin through His Spirit. It is strange how the most freeing truth of all time sometimes feels scary to own…

The Truth Project

Alameda Hills is watching the “Truth Project” series on Wednesday nights. The focus is on the nature of truth in various areas, and on our foundation of truth as Christians.

The series has been fun for me. Truth is a major element of what we Christians are about, and a common topic of conversation at Alameda Hills. This series gives a fresh view of applying truth in a variety of contexts that we encounter, while living on this earth.

Too often, we Christians don’t have a set grid to process what comes at us in this world. How do you make sense of situational ethics, with proclamations of science today, with a wide variety of home-grown belief systems?

I encourage any of you who are attending the series to reply (“comment”) on what has struck you so far in the series. It will be helpful for the rest of us to see what you have learned, and hopefully encourage discussion.

If you haven’t yet been, come join us at 7:00 on Wednesday nights.

Up and running again

A while back we lost our most excellent blog editor, Meggy T. While irreplaceable, we will endeavor to persevere. A belated "thank you" for your great work overseeing things here, Meggy.

As of today, we are attempting to start anew. Our intention is to maintain a level of consistency in our posts. We ask for patience in the early stages, but fully expect to be up and running at full speed soon.

Thanks. It is our intention that this blog page will encourage you, make you think, generally be a tool in growing you closer to the Lord.

Psalm 109:12-13

In a situation that looks hopeless, have you ever heard (or said yourself), "All we can do is pray"?

We have exhausted our resources. The help of man has proved futile. Our confidence is shot, our strength is waning. We are fearful. "All we can do is pray."

If prayer is our last recourse then our hope has been misplaced.

Our faith is not in our circumstances, the intelligence and strength of man, or the power of influence.

Our hope is in God. From the beginning.

He who has defeated death is the One who longs to help us in our time of need. His strength is made perfect in our weakness and He is waiting for us to surrender the cause to Him.

"Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory and He will trample down our enemies." ~ Psalm 109:12-13

Let's change the song from "All we can do is pray." To"The most we can do is pray."

God's Leftovers

"For this is what the Lord says: ' They will eat and have some left over.' Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord." 2 Kings 5:43-44

A dear homeschooling friend is wanting to add more children to their family. She is concerned about adding to an already full plate and asked me how I felt the Lord has supplied us with grace, patience, and ability as He added to our family.

As I was pondering her question, I was reading in 2 Kings this morning. This verse nailed it! God's work in the life of Elisha displays His ability to turn little into plenty. The widow's oil was a small amount that was multiplied so that she was able to pay her debts and live. Twenty loaves of barley bread were made to feed a hundred men with leftovers.

As we have followed His leading, our family has grown and He has supplied us with the grace, wisdom, organization, patience, time, and energy that we need. For that I am thankful. But the "leftovers" are the best part. The extra things like .....

date night every week
desserts with dinner
more clothes than I know what to do with
sleeping in on Sunday morning
soccer, fencing, and instruments
books and games a plenty
the unique love of each precious child

This good life is nothing we deserve. God took our little bit of faith and multiplied it as He has made our lives richer with each blessing. Continually He shows us that if we will trust Him, He will more than supply our needs.

Conversation with Death

If death were to talk to you on this Good Friday, how would that conversation go? For those who know and walk with the Living King, how should it go?

Check out this article.

Is The Cross About Me?

This is "Good Friday." The day we remember Jesus dying on a cross, for our sins. Christians all around the world today will be thinking about this, remembering this, focusing on this. However, what does it mean for us to focus on this, to ponder it today?

A recurring theme of mine is the change in the heart of Christians in our culture. It used to be that the emphasis of Christians, of churches, of the Christian community, was more centered on God, and on Christ. Today, the Christian community strives to be "relevant." This MAY be a good goal, and certainly there have been good things to come from this. However, it has changed our focus in a small, but significant way.

All things Biblical, or, "Christian," tend to be filtered through the sieve of, "How does this impact my life?" That is truly a good question. However, constant focus on that reduces the things of God to things of us, and it sometimes reduces God to the great big Santa Claus in the sky. And, even from a selfish position, that perspective will not transform our lives.

I believe that it is when we focus on nothing but Him, and His position, that we are most lifted up. Getting eyes off of self, and on to God, moves us into His presence, where transformation takes place. We are "attaching ourselves to His wagon," so to speak, and are therefore exalted to be with Him when we focus on Him. The idea is to focus on His Highness, not our lowness.

The Cross

Today is an obvious time to focus on Jesus and the cross. Let's get caught up in the glory and magnificence of Jesus, and the greatest love ever displayed in the history of the world. Be amazed and awed and inspired. Let it draw you to Jesus, because this event tells us a massive amount about who He is. Things that draw me in and make me want to get close to Him, and be in His presence. Today, I want to learn about Jesus through His work on the cross.