During our study of Isaiah 53 this past Sunday, my Sunday School class entered into a discussion about why Christ had to suffer. One member explained that as a child, she understood that Christ had to die for our sins, even that blood sacrifice was the requirement of God for the payment of sin. But why did He have to suffer? Why could Christ not have experienced a quick death like beheading instead of beatings and the cross?
That question about suffering took me back almost a year to our study of the book of Job. During that study, I came to understand that suffering was not always punishment from God. The two thieves on the cross with Jesus suffered for their own sins and it was punishment for breaking the law. But Christ broke no law and like Job was innocent before God. Job suffered so that God might be revealed through His suffering, so that He might be humbled before God, and so that others would learn from Job’s suffering.
Could it be that Christ had to suffer for these very same reasons?
Christ Must Suffer:
The first thing we must confirm is the idea that Christ did have to suffer. If death was enough to satisfy the wrath and judgment of God, did Christ have to suffer? The resounding answer from Scripture is yes! Matthew tells us that Jesus tried to show His disciples the necessity not only of going to Jerusalem to die and be raised up, but also to suffer. From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Matthew 16:21
Jesus himself makes it clear in Luke 24:26 that it was “necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory" because it was the word of the prophets. Acts 3:18 confirms that Christ had to suffer to fulfill the word of the prophets. "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.” Therefore, the necessity of Christ suffering is clear. The next question is naturally, “why?”
Why Must Christ Suffer:
The first response to that question is almost always, “so that he could identify with our suffering.” I understand the reasoning and that we have been taught that all of our lives. However, that answer implies that Christ would have been unable to identify with our suffering otherwise. That would imply an inability in the person of Christ, who is God. Yet, when God’s people cried out from Egypt, He heard their cries and identified with their suffering. Nothing was added to Christ’s nature, character or attributes by His suffering.
I know many of you rush to Hebrews 2:17-18 and suggest that this passage tells us that Christ suffered for the purpose of identifying with our suffering. Let us look closely at this passage.
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Now the passage clearly confirms a necessity here, but it is not the necessity of suffering. Hebrews says that Christ had to become like a man. Humanity is the central issue here. He had to become a man in order to be of service to God as a high priest. What was the role of the high priest? To make sacrifices on behalf of the people and to offer up prayers on their behalf. Christ, therefore, had to become a man so that He could serve as high priest and make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Now, the last sentence may give us pause. Simply put, this is a restatement of the first part of the passage in layman’s terms. “Because he became a man (suffered when tempted), he is able to help mankind (those who are being tempted).” Here we see an amazing connection. In this passage, our identity in Christ is through suffering and temptation. In that we find a helpful parallel, in that what is true about Christ’s suffering is also true about His temptation.
Christ Must Be Tempted:
Just as Christ had to suffer, we see in Scripture that he also had to be tempted. In fact, it is God himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit, who leads Jesus into the desert for the express purpose of being tempted. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1 To be sure, God did not tempt Jesus, but led him into the wilderness and caused him to fast in order to prepare him for temptation. This is a reality reflected in Jesus’ model prayer in Matthew 6, “'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'”
From this, we can clearly see that the temptation of Christ was a necessary part of the plan of God.
Why He Suffered when Tempted:
Now the question is two-fold. Why did Christ have to suffer and be tempted? Was it not enough for him to die without sin? Is the end result not the point, why all the hardship along the process? Again, I assert it was not for His benefit, but for ours. Not that he would be able to identify with us, but that we would be able to identify with Him.
There are various other passage we could look at and debate. Our context in Hebrews 2 is probably the most compelling.
But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. Hebrews 2:9-10
I really see three things that confirm our idea that Christ suffered and was tempted for the same reasons the Job suffered and was tempted. First, God is revealed in His suffering of death. Second, he demonstrated humility in his submission to the will of the Father. Finally, he was made a perfect example, bringing many sons to glory as the founder of their salvation, through suffering. Yes, “we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Sympathy for our weakness is the result of being tempted and not sinning, but that is exactly the opposite of his temptation or suffering making Him able to identify with us. In fact though our identification with him, he gives us an example of how temptation and suffering might be overcome.
There is one other reason for Christ suffering and temptation that we should address before moving to understand how it identifies us with Him. We see it in the context of Job in that though he was a righteous man and without fault before God, he was not without sin. Though Job has confessed his sin and trusted God for forgiveness, he was not without sin and did in fact have a sinful nature inherited from Adam. Even when the guilt of sin is forgiven, and judgment has been satisfied, and wrath has been appeased; the consequences of sin and the temptation of sin still remain. Though we are free form the bondage of sin, we are never free from its effects in this life. Ultimately, it is for our suffering that he suffered, because he took on himself all of the consequences of our sin; the legal, moral, physical, and emotional consequences. (John 1:29, 2 Cor. 5:21)
Our Identity with Christ
So, there are four chief ways we are identified with Christ through suffering and temptation instead of him identifying with us. Through our suffering and temptation God is revealed, we demonstrate our humility in our submission to the sovereignty of God, we provide an example for others to follow as we follow the example of Christ, and we exalt the suffering of Christ for the consequences of our sins.
Therefore, we should keep watching and praying that we not enter into temptation (Matt. 26:41). And we should rejoice that no temptation has overtaken us that is not common and that God is faithful in his provision of a way of escape in the person of Christ, that we might endure it (1 Cor. 10:13), because the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment 2 Peter 2:9).
We should also rejoice when we are considered worthy to suffer shame for His name sake (Acts 5:41). For, if we suffer with him we may also be identified with him in glorification as fellow heirs, and our present suffering will not be worthy of comparison to the glory that will be revealed to us (Romans 8:17-18) for to us it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him but to suffer. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. (2 Cor. 1:5)
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4:1-2, 19)
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
They Finally Get It! Or Do They?
Some of the biggest news in the generation of church growth has gone largely unreported, because the admission of Bill Hybels and Willow Creek falls short of repentance and they want you to buy the book. That's right, during their 2007 Leadership Summit, the Willow Creek Community revealed a new book that contained the shocking results of yet another internal survey. What they found was that their church-growth methodology and seeker sensitive movement is faulty. It simply is not working in terms of leading people to a true relationship with Christ or helping people grow spiritually. Here is what Hybels says:
Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn't put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.
That God for their admission of what most of us already understand, a non-biblical model for doing church will never produce spiritual fruit. It may and often does produce large congregations, but it will not serve the purposes for which God instituted the church. The sad part is that this admission falls short of repentance, which is what Hybels should be doing because his admittedly faulty methodology has led thousands of churches astray. However, not only is there no repentance. there is no real change in methodology.
We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
A mistake? Sounds like a return to biblical discipleship, but perhaps the most shocking thing of all in this revelation coming out of Willow Creek is in a summary statement by Greg Hawkins, the Executive Pastor of Willow Creek:
Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.
Isn’t that what we were told when this whole seeker-sensitive thing started? The church growth gurus again want to throw away their old assumptions and “take out a clean sheet of paper” and, presumably, come up with a new paradigm for ministry.
Please note that “rooted in Scripture” still follows “rethink,” “new insights” and “informed research.” Someone, it appears, still might not get it. Unless there is a return to a biblical view of the Church and biblical discipleship principles, a new faulty scheme will replace the existing one and another generation will follow along. Why will they not simply ask, "what does the Bible say about the nature, role and character of the Church?" Why do they not come out and publicly repent before all of the churches they have led astray that they are false teachers. I do not have those answers. All I know is they have made a new book available so that we can all learn from their mistakes and I expect they will release another one when they are ready to reveal their next burst of creative genius.
What may be encouraging in all of this coming from the highest ranks of the Willow Creek Association is that they are coming to realize that their existing “model” does not help people grow into mature followers of Jesus Christ. Given the massive influence this organization has on the American church today, let us pray that God would be pleased to put structures in place at Willow Creek that foster not mere numeric growth, but growth in grace.
To hear some clips of the Hybels confession: http://www.wayofthemasterradio.com/podcast/2007/11/01/november-01-2007-hour-1
Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn't put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.
That God for their admission of what most of us already understand, a non-biblical model for doing church will never produce spiritual fruit. It may and often does produce large congregations, but it will not serve the purposes for which God instituted the church. The sad part is that this admission falls short of repentance, which is what Hybels should be doing because his admittedly faulty methodology has led thousands of churches astray. However, not only is there no repentance. there is no real change in methodology.
We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
A mistake? Sounds like a return to biblical discipleship, but perhaps the most shocking thing of all in this revelation coming out of Willow Creek is in a summary statement by Greg Hawkins, the Executive Pastor of Willow Creek:
Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.
Isn’t that what we were told when this whole seeker-sensitive thing started? The church growth gurus again want to throw away their old assumptions and “take out a clean sheet of paper” and, presumably, come up with a new paradigm for ministry.
Please note that “rooted in Scripture” still follows “rethink,” “new insights” and “informed research.” Someone, it appears, still might not get it. Unless there is a return to a biblical view of the Church and biblical discipleship principles, a new faulty scheme will replace the existing one and another generation will follow along. Why will they not simply ask, "what does the Bible say about the nature, role and character of the Church?" Why do they not come out and publicly repent before all of the churches they have led astray that they are false teachers. I do not have those answers. All I know is they have made a new book available so that we can all learn from their mistakes and I expect they will release another one when they are ready to reveal their next burst of creative genius.
What may be encouraging in all of this coming from the highest ranks of the Willow Creek Association is that they are coming to realize that their existing “model” does not help people grow into mature followers of Jesus Christ. Given the massive influence this organization has on the American church today, let us pray that God would be pleased to put structures in place at Willow Creek that foster not mere numeric growth, but growth in grace.
To hear some clips of the Hybels confession: http://www.wayofthemasterradio.com/podcast/2007/11/01/november-01-2007-hour-1
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Legacy Letter
Thanksgiving On the Home Front By Rayanne Ward
The other day Elijah and I went to Wal-Mart together. As we came into the store, Elijah exclaimed, “Momma, look! Why do they have a Christmas tree, there’s the Hallow
een stuff. We haven't even had Halloween yet, that’s just crazy.” It’s amazing how smart and intuitive a four year boy can be. Elijah was right; it is crazy that stores are already decorating for the Christmas Holidays. What struck me is that Thanksgiving Day seems to be a holiday that is diminishing in the commercialism of Christmas. I remember places being decorated with turkeys, pilgrims, and cornucopias. Everyone talked about the things for which they were thankful. Nowadays, we just give a nod to Thanksgiving and fly straight to Christmas.
There is nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas as Trinity so aptly put it last year, “We can celebrate Jesus everyday,” but we should not neglect our giving of thanks.
In this newsletter, Reid and I want to take and opportunity to express our gratitude and thankfulness as we reflect on all that God has done this past year. In all of our circumstances and daily lives God has revealed himself to us and has richly blessed us.
God is our great provider. There is not enough space to list all that God provided this past year physically, spiritually, and emotionally. God has daily met all of our needs. We are grateful to you for being a part of that faithful provision. God used your financial gifts and prayers to meet the needs of Legacy Leadership Ministry. We are thankful for you and offer thanksgiving to God for you. We are also grateful for all of the ministry opportunities that God provided last year.
God is our great protector. Reid returned home safely after each ministry trip. Thank you to those who faithfully prayed for his safety and for God’s faithful protection. Zachariah wanted to come early but God protected him and he didn’t come too early. Born at 36 weeks, he was small but healthy.
God is our great healer. God took care of Trinity as she had surgery to remove a small benign tumor from her cheek. I healed quickly from an emergency C-section to deliver Zachariah.
God faithfully guides our footsteps and gives wisdom in making decisions. As we began praying in February for wisdom about the direction of Legacy Leadership Ministry and for our family, God faithfully directed Reid to a new part-time position on staff at Bush Memorial Baptist Church. It is amazing to look back and see how God orchestrated the whole process. This new position allows Reid to apply the principles and truths that he teaches through Legacy events in the context of a local body of believers. It is an great way to serve our local congregation as well as serve as an example and model to other congregations.
God is gracious as he reveals himself to us and allows us to fellowship with Him. We are so thankful for His salvation and His faithfulness to our family. Please stop and take a moment to thank God for all that he has done and to see Him and his attributes in all that he has done in your life this past year. We are able to see and know God through the things he does in our lives. I believe you will stand in awe of our Great King as your reflect and offer thanksgiving and praise.
een stuff. We haven't even had Halloween yet, that’s just crazy.” It’s amazing how smart and intuitive a four year boy can be. Elijah was right; it is crazy that stores are already decorating for the Christmas Holidays. What struck me is that Thanksgiving Day seems to be a holiday that is diminishing in the commercialism of Christmas. I remember places being decorated with turkeys, pilgrims, and cornucopias. Everyone talked about the things for which they were thankful. Nowadays, we just give a nod to Thanksgiving and fly straight to Christmas.There is nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas as Trinity so aptly put it last year, “We can celebrate Jesus everyday,” but we should not neglect our giving of thanks.
In this newsletter, Reid and I want to take and opportunity to express our gratitude and thankfulness as we reflect on all that God has done this past year. In all of our circumstances and daily lives God has revealed himself to us and has richly blessed us.
God is our great provider. There is not enough space to list all that God provided this past year physically, spiritually, and emotionally. God has daily met all of our needs. We are grateful to you for being a part of that faithful provision. God used your financial gifts and prayers to meet the needs of Legacy Leadership Ministry. We are thankful for you and offer thanksgiving to God for you. We are also grateful for all of the ministry opportunities that God provided last year.
God is our great protector. Reid returned home safely after each ministry trip. Thank you to those who faithfully prayed for his safety and for God’s faithful protection. Zachariah wanted to come early but God protected him and he didn’t come too early. Born at 36 weeks, he was small but healthy.
God is our great healer. God took care of Trinity as she had surgery to remove a small benign tumor from her cheek. I healed quickly from an emergency C-section to deliver Zachariah.
God faithfully guides our footsteps and gives wisdom in making decisions. As we began praying in February for wisdom about the direction of Legacy Leadership Ministry and for our family, God faithfully directed Reid to a new part-time position on staff at Bush Memorial Baptist Church. It is amazing to look back and see how God orchestrated the whole process. This new position allows Reid to apply the principles and truths that he teaches through Legacy events in the context of a local body of believers. It is an great way to serve our local congregation as well as serve as an example and model to other congregations.
God is gracious as he reveals himself to us and allows us to fellowship with Him. We are so thankful for His salvation and His faithfulness to our family. Please stop and take a moment to thank God for all that he has done and to see Him and his attributes in all that he has done in your life this past year. We are able to see and know God through the things he does in our lives. I believe you will stand in awe of our Great King as your reflect and offer thanksgiving and praise.
One foundational principle that Legacy Leadership Ministry teaches is the biblical truth found though out the Bible and specifically given in Deuteronomy 6:6-25 that parents are to disciple and teach their children about God and the things of God. It is humbling to know that God has entrusted and blessed us with three beautiful children. He has given us the mandate to teach and train them. It is amazing to see God at work in their hearts each day. Please pray that God would give us the wisdom and grace we need to daily teach and train our children. As we teach others about how to lead and invest in the lives of their children, please pray that we would be faithful to do the same at home.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Parenting Wisdom: FROM SURPRISING SOURCES
It’s amazing where wisdom will sometimes choose to surface. Consider the following statement:
"Studies have shown that parents are the primary influence on their children’s choices and decisions... and that is why we’re proud to offer help to parents. Recognizing that parents have the greatest influence on their children’s decisions, the Family Talk program helps... by encouraging open, honest communication between parents and children."1
Makes perfect sense, right? Here’s another:
"Nearly three out of four parents believe their children’s friends and classmates have the most influence... Yet contrary to what parents think, kids say mom and dad have the biggest impact on the choices they make."2
How about this one:
"So you’re between the ages of 13 and 24. What makes you happy? A worried, weary parent might imagine the answer to sound something like this: Sex, drugs,and a little rock ‘n’ roll. Maybe some cash, or at least the car keys. Turns out the real answer is quite different. Spending time with family was the top answer to that open-ended question... Parents are seen as an overwhelmingly positive influence in the lives of most young people. Remarkably, nearly half of teens mention at least one of their parents as a hero."3
At this point you may be wondering where I found these quotes. Focus on the Family? American Family Research Council, maybe? How about the National Network of Youth Ministers? If you guessed any of those three you would be wrong. The first quote is from an Anheuser-Busch publication found on www.familytalkonline.com. The second is from www.MVParents.com, a website of the Coors Brewing Company. The third is from a study conducted by MTV and the Associated Press. Whether it’s a Christian organization or a secular one, all the research points to the fact that parents are the primary influence of their children.
Josh McDowell says it best,
"Parents... carry more weight—for good or bad—than they give themselves credit for. How a child thinks and acts is still molded by his or her home life, which means the crumbling foundations of the faith among this generation is as much a parental problem as a church problem, if not more so. If we’re going to reclaim the next generation, then the home and the church must join forces together like never before."4
Josh McDowell also reveals how the typical churched young person would answer the following question:
"As a teenager, who or what is molding and shaping your attitudes and actions?’ Seventy-eight percent of them say: ‘It’s my parents.’ Studies show that their parents have three times the influence over them than their pastor or youth group leader. Church is seventh on their list, carrying just as much influence as does their music."5
An extensive study of 272,400 teenagers conducted by USA Today Weekend Magazine found that 70 percent of teens identified their parents as the most important influence in their lives. 21 percent said that about their friends (peers), and only 8 percent named the media (TV shows). This study obviously contradicts cultural misconceptions that peers and media are the primary driving force for teens. Today’s research supports what the Bible has said for thousands of years: parents have the most important place in their child’s development.
After the most in-depth research ever conducted on the spirituality of American teens, Christian Smith concluded in his book, Soul Searching,
"The best way to get most youth more involved in and serious about their faith communities is to get their parents more involved in and serious about their faith communities. For decades in many religious traditions, the prevailing model of youth ministry has relied on pulling teens away from their parents. In some cases, youth ministers have come to see parents as adversaries. There is no doubt a time and place for unique teen settings and activities; still, our findings suggest that overall youth ministry would probably best be pursued in larger context of family ministry, that parents should be viewed as indispensable partners in the religious formation of youth."6
In Altemeyer and Hunsberger’s book Amazing Conversions, we are told the stories of forty-six college freshmen they call the "Amazing Apostates." These students were identified in a survey of more than 2,000 college freshmen as being among those who were raised in church-going, Christian families but had abandoned their faith by the time they reached college. Here are a few excerpts from their extensive secular research:
• "All of the different approaches to studying parental influences in the religious socialization process converge on a single conclusion: Parents play an extremely important role in the developing religious attitudes and practices of their offspring. In fact, few researchers would quarrel with the conclusion that parents are the most important influence in this regard."7
• "We acquire our religion from our parents almost as certainly as we inherit the color of our eyes."8
• "You can make a pretty good prediction of how a university student, raised as a Christian, will still accept Christianity if you know how much the family religion was emphasized while he was growing up."9
• "Parents of those who ‘kept the faith’ emphasized religion twice as much as the parents of those who became apostates."10
• "If today’s young people seem less religious than their parents, it may be traced to their parents’ neglecting to pass on the grandparents training."11
• During the authors’ research they asked these freshmen to identify whom they most turned to when they experienced doubts or questions specifically in regards to religion and their faith. The responses were, in order:
- Talking with parents
- Reading the Bible
- Talking with friends
- Spending time in prayer
- Talking to a minister or religious leader
- Going to a camp or retreat to renew their faith.12
God started the first family and ordained it as the institution for not only reproduction but also for primary discipleship. Think of Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
The practice of Orthodox Jews, who recite the Shema twice a day, magnifies the importance of this passage. Of all the great Old Testament passages concerning creation, faith, God’s provisions, the coming Messiah, commandments, repentance and forgiveness, I am amazed that this was the passage that God impressed on them to repeat daily. In case we missed the importance the first time, the Lord repeated these same instructions to parents in Deuteronomy 11. All this repetition is more than coincidence; it’s clear that the Shema is one of the most important passages in the Old Testament, as it instructs parents to disciple their children.
Steve Farrar talks about the mandate in Deuteronomy 6 and other passages, saying,
"There is no ‘new and improved’ version to these commands. They have not been upgraded. They were perfect when they were given and they will be perfect for as long as men walk the earth...The job description is timeless."13
George Barna summarizes well a biblical understanding of parenting well, saying:
"The responsibility for raising spiritual champions, according to the Bible, belongs to the parents. The spiritual nurture of children is supposed to take place in the home. Organizations and people from outside the home might support those efforts, but the responsibility is squarely laid at the feet of the family. This is not a job for specialists. It is a job for parents."14
Ross Campbell correctly says:
"While organized religious instruction and activities in churches, Christian camps, and special youth clubs are extremely important to your developing child, nothing influences him more than his training at home. Parents cannot afford to leave spiritual training to other people."15
Whether it is the media, a beer company or secular researchers, it is impossible to deny the truth which was first in the Bible: parents are the primary influencers of their children. The scriptures are very pointed and very clear. There is no escape clause for parents. Biblical obedience requires our best effort because we as parents are the daily mentors that God intended our children to have. I hope the following scriptures inspire you as they have Tina and me.
• Psalm 78:1-7: "My people, hear my instruction; listen to what I say. I will declare wise sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past–things we have heard and known and that our fathers have passed down to us. We must not hide them from our children, but must tell a future generation the praises of the Lord, His might, and the wonderful works He has performed. He established a testimony in Jacob and set up a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children so that a future generation–children yet to be born–might know. They were to rise and tell their children so that they might put their confidence in God and not forget God’s works, but keep His commands."
• Ephesians 6:4: "Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."
• Proverbs 1:8-9: "Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mothers teaching, for they will be a garland of grace on your head and a chain around your neck."
• Malachi 4:6: "And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers."
• Luke 1:17: "And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children."
• Proverbs 22:6: "Teach a youth about the way he should go; even
when he is old he will not depart from it."
• Psalm 127:1-4: "Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain. In vain you get up early and stay up late, eating food earned by hard work; certainly He gives sleep to the one He loves. Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, children, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in one’s youth."
• Proverbs 4:1-11: "Listen, my sons, to a father’s discipline, and pay attention so that you may gain understanding, for I am giving you good instruction. Don’t abandon my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender and precious to my mother, he taught me..."
• Colossians 3:20-21: "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so they won’t become discouraged."
• 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12: "As you know, like a father with his own children, we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory."
In his sermon "The Estate of Marriage," Martin Luther reflected his convictions about the role of father and mother in these words:
"Most certainly father and mother are apostles, bishops, and priests to their children, for it is they who make them acquainted with the Gospel. In short there is no greater or nobler authority on earth than that of parents over their children, for this authority is both spiritual and temporal."16
The Bible says it, research confirms it, and the media agrees: parents are primary. It seems that everyone understands that, everyone but parents. It is time for parents to stop selling themselves short and recognize that God has placed them in a position of unparalleled influence. It is time for parents to open up the Bible at home, pray with their children, talk about the faith, refuse to settle for distant relationships, and influence their children like no one else can. Our children are waiting.
This article is an excerpt from the book entitled reThink. You can purchase this book by visiting www.inquest.org or calling 1-800-776-1893.
About the Author:
Steve and his wife, Tina, were married in 1989. They are blessed with three children–Sara, William and Tyler. Steve serves as Pastor of Student Ministries at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC. Steve joined the team at Providence in May of 1999. He received a Master of Arts degree in Christian education from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. His undergraduate degree is from Carson Newman College. Steve founded InQuest Ministries, which supplies Sunday School and Discipleship curriculum to thousands of churches worldwide.
________________________
1 Taken from: www.familytalkonline.com/docs/
AboutUs.htm
2 Taken from www.MVParents.com
3 Information taken from an article entitled "MTV and The Associated Press Release Landmark Study of Young People and Happiness" found at www.mtv.com/thinkmtv/research/
4 Josh McDowell, The Last Christian Generation, (Holiday, FL: Green Key Books, 2006), pp.59-60. 5 Wayne Rice and David Veerman, Understanding Your Teenager, (Lakeside, CA, Understanding Your Teenager Books) p.118.
6 Christian Smith, Soul Searching, (Oxford University Press, 2005) p.267.
7 Bob Altemeyer and Bruce Hunsberger, Amazing Conversions, (Prometheus Books, 1997) p.226.
8 Ibid., p.10.
9 Ibid., p.11.
10 Ibid., p.11.
11 Ibid., p.11.
12 Ibid., p.18.
13 Farrar, Steve. King Me: What Every Son Wants and Needs From His Father. (Chicago: Moody Publishers. 2005.) pp.20-21.
14 George Barna, Revolutionary Parenting. (Carol Stream, Tyndale House Publishers. 2007) p.11-12.
15 Campbell, Ross. Relational Parenting. (Chicago: Moody Press, 2000.) pp.136-137.
16 Strommen, Merton P. Passing on the Faith: A Radical new Model for Youth and Family Ministry. (Winona: Saint Mary’s Press. 2000.) p.28.
"It is time for parents to stop selling themselves short and recognize that God has placed them in a position of unparalleled influence.
InQuest InSights: Parenting Page 4 of 4
"Studies have shown that parents are the primary influence on their children’s choices and decisions... and that is why we’re proud to offer help to parents. Recognizing that parents have the greatest influence on their children’s decisions, the Family Talk program helps... by encouraging open, honest communication between parents and children."1
Makes perfect sense, right? Here’s another:
"Nearly three out of four parents believe their children’s friends and classmates have the most influence... Yet contrary to what parents think, kids say mom and dad have the biggest impact on the choices they make."2
How about this one:
"So you’re between the ages of 13 and 24. What makes you happy? A worried, weary parent might imagine the answer to sound something like this: Sex, drugs,and a little rock ‘n’ roll. Maybe some cash, or at least the car keys. Turns out the real answer is quite different. Spending time with family was the top answer to that open-ended question... Parents are seen as an overwhelmingly positive influence in the lives of most young people. Remarkably, nearly half of teens mention at least one of their parents as a hero."3
At this point you may be wondering where I found these quotes. Focus on the Family? American Family Research Council, maybe? How about the National Network of Youth Ministers? If you guessed any of those three you would be wrong. The first quote is from an Anheuser-Busch publication found on www.familytalkonline.com. The second is from www.MVParents.com, a website of the Coors Brewing Company. The third is from a study conducted by MTV and the Associated Press. Whether it’s a Christian organization or a secular one, all the research points to the fact that parents are the primary influence of their children.
Josh McDowell says it best,
"Parents... carry more weight—for good or bad—than they give themselves credit for. How a child thinks and acts is still molded by his or her home life, which means the crumbling foundations of the faith among this generation is as much a parental problem as a church problem, if not more so. If we’re going to reclaim the next generation, then the home and the church must join forces together like never before."4
Josh McDowell also reveals how the typical churched young person would answer the following question:
"As a teenager, who or what is molding and shaping your attitudes and actions?’ Seventy-eight percent of them say: ‘It’s my parents.’ Studies show that their parents have three times the influence over them than their pastor or youth group leader. Church is seventh on their list, carrying just as much influence as does their music."5
An extensive study of 272,400 teenagers conducted by USA Today Weekend Magazine found that 70 percent of teens identified their parents as the most important influence in their lives. 21 percent said that about their friends (peers), and only 8 percent named the media (TV shows). This study obviously contradicts cultural misconceptions that peers and media are the primary driving force for teens. Today’s research supports what the Bible has said for thousands of years: parents have the most important place in their child’s development.
After the most in-depth research ever conducted on the spirituality of American teens, Christian Smith concluded in his book, Soul Searching,
"The best way to get most youth more involved in and serious about their faith communities is to get their parents more involved in and serious about their faith communities. For decades in many religious traditions, the prevailing model of youth ministry has relied on pulling teens away from their parents. In some cases, youth ministers have come to see parents as adversaries. There is no doubt a time and place for unique teen settings and activities; still, our findings suggest that overall youth ministry would probably best be pursued in larger context of family ministry, that parents should be viewed as indispensable partners in the religious formation of youth."6
In Altemeyer and Hunsberger’s book Amazing Conversions, we are told the stories of forty-six college freshmen they call the "Amazing Apostates." These students were identified in a survey of more than 2,000 college freshmen as being among those who were raised in church-going, Christian families but had abandoned their faith by the time they reached college. Here are a few excerpts from their extensive secular research:
• "All of the different approaches to studying parental influences in the religious socialization process converge on a single conclusion: Parents play an extremely important role in the developing religious attitudes and practices of their offspring. In fact, few researchers would quarrel with the conclusion that parents are the most important influence in this regard."7
• "We acquire our religion from our parents almost as certainly as we inherit the color of our eyes."8
• "You can make a pretty good prediction of how a university student, raised as a Christian, will still accept Christianity if you know how much the family religion was emphasized while he was growing up."9
• "Parents of those who ‘kept the faith’ emphasized religion twice as much as the parents of those who became apostates."10
• "If today’s young people seem less religious than their parents, it may be traced to their parents’ neglecting to pass on the grandparents training."11
• During the authors’ research they asked these freshmen to identify whom they most turned to when they experienced doubts or questions specifically in regards to religion and their faith. The responses were, in order:
- Talking with parents
- Reading the Bible
- Talking with friends
- Spending time in prayer
- Talking to a minister or religious leader
- Going to a camp or retreat to renew their faith.12
God started the first family and ordained it as the institution for not only reproduction but also for primary discipleship. Think of Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
The practice of Orthodox Jews, who recite the Shema twice a day, magnifies the importance of this passage. Of all the great Old Testament passages concerning creation, faith, God’s provisions, the coming Messiah, commandments, repentance and forgiveness, I am amazed that this was the passage that God impressed on them to repeat daily. In case we missed the importance the first time, the Lord repeated these same instructions to parents in Deuteronomy 11. All this repetition is more than coincidence; it’s clear that the Shema is one of the most important passages in the Old Testament, as it instructs parents to disciple their children.
Steve Farrar talks about the mandate in Deuteronomy 6 and other passages, saying,
"There is no ‘new and improved’ version to these commands. They have not been upgraded. They were perfect when they were given and they will be perfect for as long as men walk the earth...The job description is timeless."13
George Barna summarizes well a biblical understanding of parenting well, saying:
"The responsibility for raising spiritual champions, according to the Bible, belongs to the parents. The spiritual nurture of children is supposed to take place in the home. Organizations and people from outside the home might support those efforts, but the responsibility is squarely laid at the feet of the family. This is not a job for specialists. It is a job for parents."14
Ross Campbell correctly says:
"While organized religious instruction and activities in churches, Christian camps, and special youth clubs are extremely important to your developing child, nothing influences him more than his training at home. Parents cannot afford to leave spiritual training to other people."15
Whether it is the media, a beer company or secular researchers, it is impossible to deny the truth which was first in the Bible: parents are the primary influencers of their children. The scriptures are very pointed and very clear. There is no escape clause for parents. Biblical obedience requires our best effort because we as parents are the daily mentors that God intended our children to have. I hope the following scriptures inspire you as they have Tina and me.
• Psalm 78:1-7: "My people, hear my instruction; listen to what I say. I will declare wise sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past–things we have heard and known and that our fathers have passed down to us. We must not hide them from our children, but must tell a future generation the praises of the Lord, His might, and the wonderful works He has performed. He established a testimony in Jacob and set up a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children so that a future generation–children yet to be born–might know. They were to rise and tell their children so that they might put their confidence in God and not forget God’s works, but keep His commands."
• Ephesians 6:4: "Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."
• Proverbs 1:8-9: "Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mothers teaching, for they will be a garland of grace on your head and a chain around your neck."
• Malachi 4:6: "And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers."
• Luke 1:17: "And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children."
• Proverbs 22:6: "Teach a youth about the way he should go; even
when he is old he will not depart from it."
• Psalm 127:1-4: "Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain. In vain you get up early and stay up late, eating food earned by hard work; certainly He gives sleep to the one He loves. Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, children, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in one’s youth."
• Proverbs 4:1-11: "Listen, my sons, to a father’s discipline, and pay attention so that you may gain understanding, for I am giving you good instruction. Don’t abandon my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender and precious to my mother, he taught me..."
• Colossians 3:20-21: "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so they won’t become discouraged."
• 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12: "As you know, like a father with his own children, we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory."
In his sermon "The Estate of Marriage," Martin Luther reflected his convictions about the role of father and mother in these words:
"Most certainly father and mother are apostles, bishops, and priests to their children, for it is they who make them acquainted with the Gospel. In short there is no greater or nobler authority on earth than that of parents over their children, for this authority is both spiritual and temporal."16
The Bible says it, research confirms it, and the media agrees: parents are primary. It seems that everyone understands that, everyone but parents. It is time for parents to stop selling themselves short and recognize that God has placed them in a position of unparalleled influence. It is time for parents to open up the Bible at home, pray with their children, talk about the faith, refuse to settle for distant relationships, and influence their children like no one else can. Our children are waiting.
This article is an excerpt from the book entitled reThink. You can purchase this book by visiting www.inquest.org or calling 1-800-776-1893.
About the Author:
Steve and his wife, Tina, were married in 1989. They are blessed with three children–Sara, William and Tyler. Steve serves as Pastor of Student Ministries at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC. Steve joined the team at Providence in May of 1999. He received a Master of Arts degree in Christian education from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. His undergraduate degree is from Carson Newman College. Steve founded InQuest Ministries, which supplies Sunday School and Discipleship curriculum to thousands of churches worldwide.
________________________
1 Taken from: www.familytalkonline.com/docs/
AboutUs.htm
2 Taken from www.MVParents.com
3 Information taken from an article entitled "MTV and The Associated Press Release Landmark Study of Young People and Happiness" found at www.mtv.com/thinkmtv/research/
4 Josh McDowell, The Last Christian Generation, (Holiday, FL: Green Key Books, 2006), pp.59-60. 5 Wayne Rice and David Veerman, Understanding Your Teenager, (Lakeside, CA, Understanding Your Teenager Books) p.118.
6 Christian Smith, Soul Searching, (Oxford University Press, 2005) p.267.
7 Bob Altemeyer and Bruce Hunsberger, Amazing Conversions, (Prometheus Books, 1997) p.226.
8 Ibid., p.10.
9 Ibid., p.11.
10 Ibid., p.11.
11 Ibid., p.11.
12 Ibid., p.18.
13 Farrar, Steve. King Me: What Every Son Wants and Needs From His Father. (Chicago: Moody Publishers. 2005.) pp.20-21.
14 George Barna, Revolutionary Parenting. (Carol Stream, Tyndale House Publishers. 2007) p.11-12.
15 Campbell, Ross. Relational Parenting. (Chicago: Moody Press, 2000.) pp.136-137.
16 Strommen, Merton P. Passing on the Faith: A Radical new Model for Youth and Family Ministry. (Winona: Saint Mary’s Press. 2000.) p.28.
"It is time for parents to stop selling themselves short and recognize that God has placed them in a position of unparalleled influence.
InQuest InSights: Parenting Page 4 of 4
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Lord's Prayer
Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
The prayer is a model, not a mere liturgy to be recited or repeated thoughtlessly. Nor is it a formula that we might employ for our gain.
It is notable for its profound brevity and simplicity. It is remarkable for its comprehensiveness.
Therefore, let us know that we are to be in a right state of mind for praying, and not only be about ourselves and our advantage, but give the first place to God. Jesus shows us that prayer, like all other things is first God-centered.
Whenever we engage in prayer, there are two things to be considered; that we have access to Him and the we are dependant on Him. This is reflected here in the model from Jesus by His fatherly love and His boundless power.
Father – we call God our Father only because of our connection to Christ. Our union with the body of Christ makes us adopted children in the family of God and joint heirs with Christ to the kingdom of God. It would be foolish to assume access to God as our Father, apart from our absolute confidence in the work of Christ as both redeemer and mediator. In Christ, however, let us entertain no doubt that God is willing to receive us graciously and listen to our prayers. Let us enter in boldly, with all reverence and humility, into the presence of God.
Who is in Heaven – Jesus is not referring to a place where God dwells only there, but gives us a lofty view of the power of God. 2 Chronicles 2:6 says, “the heavens of heavens do not contain Him.” When the Scripture says that God is in heaven, the meaning is that all things are subject to His power. Psalm 115 makes this clear, “Our God is in heaven: He does whatever He pleases.” Ephesians 1:20-25 shows this to be true in the New Testament by affirming that this is the role of Christ after the ascension:
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
So, we know the design of Christ in the commencement of the prayer. He desires His people to rest their confidence on the fatherly love and boundless power of God, because unless our prayers be founded on faith, the will be of no advantage.
Just as the 10 commandments are divided into two tablets, the first concerning our relationship to God and the second concerning our relationship to people, so in this model Jesus enjoins us to consider 6 petitions, 3 for the glory of God and 3 for our own salvation.
A. Three for the Glory of God 9-10
1. Make Sacred the Name of God; To hallow or sanctify the name of God means nothing else but to give God the glory due to His name. In these first 3 petitions, we are to loose sight of ourselves and give glory to God. It is to our unspeakable advantage that God reigns and that He receives the honor due Him. That can not happen apart from us being consumed by self-forgetfulness in the presence of the infinitely majestic glory of God.
The name of God is made sacred by our praise, but our giving Him glory. The glory by which it is sanctified, flows from our acknowledgement of His attributes; His wisdom, goodness, righteousness, power, and all.
The substance of this petition is that the glory of God might shine in the world, and may be acknowledged by all men, that the name of God would be glorified above all and never profaned by our disrespect, irreverence, or neglect.
2. Long for the Kingdom of God; The kingdom of God is the reign of God, by which He rules over the universe which He created. God is said to reign among men, when they voluntarily devote and submit themselves to be governed by Him. In our sinful natures, we oppose the justice of God and obstruct His reign. By praying for His kingdom we ask that He remove all hinderances, our affections and will, and bring us all under His sovereign rule. This imperial work is done in part by the preaching of the word of God and secondly by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
There is still another way that the kingdom of God comes. That is by the judgment of God, when He overthrows His enemies and compels them to bow and confess, “till they all be made His footstool,” and “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord.”
For us, as believers, it is God’s will that He govern us by His word, in order that His kingdom may be established in us. The commencement of that reign is in the destruction of the old man, the surrendering of our affections and the denial of will, that we might be renewed to another life.
The substance of this prayer is that God might enlighten the world by the light of His word, and would rule in our lives by our voluntary submission to His word and Spirit, to obey His justice.
3. Submit to the Will of God; There is a close connection between these three petitions. The sanctification of the Name of God is always connected to His kingdom, and the most important part of His kingdom lies in His will being done. The will of God is a singular thing. However, we have seen His kingdom is brought in by various means. Thus, God both executes His will by His providence; as in heaven, where His angels are always ready to execute His commands, “harkening to the voice of His word,” and by temporal means; as on earth, using His word, His people and circumstances to bring about His will through obedience.
So, it is our desire in this prayer that God’s will be perfectly done through the obedience of His people, but more, that God might remove our obstinacy and rebellion, and make us gentle and submissive toward Him, that we may desire nothing but His rule in our live. We pray that the earth become obedient to the will of God, and that we hate and regret whatever we perceive to be contrary to the will of God.
B. Three for our Own Salvation 11-13
In this model prayer that Christ has prescribed to us, this is the second tablet. Simply for our understanding, the petitions that relate to the glory of God are contained in the first, and in the second part is how we ought to tend to our own salvation, or ask for ourselves. Not that these are void of the glory of God. In fact, we will see by the way Jesus constructs His prayer, that the object is our recognition of our dependence on God, which in turn brings glory to His many attributes as they concern our salvation.
1. Ask for Provision; We are first instructed to pray that God would provide for the needs of this life which He has given to us in the world. We need many things and this prayer is that he would supply us with everything that He knows to be needful for today. Now, it is to be remembered that Jesus himself taught us that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Therefore, this is not to the neglect of our spiritual need, but it is primarily a prayer for physical provision. “Lord, since our life needs new supplies every day, may it please you to grant them without interruption.”
The adverb “today” is added to restrain our excessive desire, and to teach us that we depend every moment on the provision of God, and ought to be content with what he gives. This is much the lesson Israel learned in the wilderness when God fed them daily through the provision of manna, and punished them both for desiring something more than He provided and for storing up His provision for later. These words are to remind us, unless God supply us daily, the largest accumulation of the necessities of life will be of no avail. If we are to pray sincerely, we must learn the example of Paul, “to be full and to be hungry, to abound and to have need.”
2. Ask for Forgiveness; We come first to God through the person and work of Christ, the chief work of which is the forgiveness of sins. So, it should not be assumed from the arrangement here that praying for forgiveness is of a second order. We must always pray for the pardoning of our sins by grace before we enter into the presence of God. Christ has here, in these last 2 petitions, included all that pertains to our salvation and to living the spiritual life; the forgiveness of sins, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.
Our sins are here called debts to magnify they bear with them a cost, a wage that makes us debtors to God. This sin debt is one that we can not pay ourselves, apart form eternal death (which is separation from God). Now, in our praying for forgiveness of our debt, we part form the economy of the world. A creditor is not said to forgive a debt when he has received payment, or expects any repayment for His forgiveness. There is no compensation owed here. Christ has paid the debt and God has set the debtor free. He ask nothing more. Jesus paid it all. The condition, “as we forgive our debtors” is added here so that no one may presume to approach God for forgiveness who has pride and resentment in their heart. Christ did not intend to point out the cause of our forgiveness, but to remind us of the attitude of the heart in which our forgiveness takes root.
Christ explains this complicated petition in verses 14-15, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” The name debtor is here given here not to those who owe us money, but to those who are indebted to us on account of offenses which they have committed toward us. Christ is saying, you live by the worlds economy – you die by the worlds economy, if you wish to live by grace, you must live with it in your own heart. Grace is the measure by which you are forgiven and therefore must forgive others.
3. Ask for Protection; Now here is the second half of our salvation petition, that which pertains to living the spiritual life. It is wrong to make this 2 petitions because they are clearly connected by a continuing conjunction. The effect is That we may not be lead into temptation, deliver us from evil. The meaning is then that we are conscious of our weakness and are joyfully dependant on God for His protection. Just as in the last petition we learned that we have no hope of gaining forgiveness of sin unless we admit we are a sinner, here we see that we have no hope of living a holy life unless we obtain it by the protection of God. We implore God to protect us and deliver us because we acknowledge that we can not be holy on our own. Unless God deliver us, we will be constantly failing.
The word temptation is generally used for any kind of trial. While God clearly never tempts us himself, He does often lead us into trial for the purpose of our spiritual growth, just as He led Jesus into the desert to fast and be confronted by the Devil, where He delivered Christ from evil by the power of His word.
Here, Christ is referring to an inward temptation, not an outward test to prove our faith. This is a scourge of the devil that excites our lusts. It would be foolish to ask God to keep us from every trial of adversity or prosperity that test or grows our faith. We ask that God not allow us to be thrown down and overwhelmed by temptations. Positively, Father, lead us away from temptation, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life.
Yet, deliver us from it. Deliver us from evil. Again this is not just a negative request for protection, but a display of our positive dependence on God – deliver me, Oh Lord!
Now, this may be taken as a neuter gender “the evil thing” or the masculine gender “the evil one.” There is no debate here because both are equally true and applicable. The Devil does contrive of everything evil and is the deadly enemy of our salvation and holy life, and we must depend on God for His deliverance from the evil one. Equally, sin is the evil thing within us that we must all primarily fight. Deliverance from an outward foe would benefit us not if we are yet to be delivered from the enemy within. From both the evil one and the evil thing, we do desperately depend on God to protect and deliver us.
[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen]
This final phrase does not appear in all of the early Latin manuscripts. It is a shame they left it out because it serves as a summary of Jesus’ model. It kindles our hearts to seek the glory of God and to remember Him and not ourselves as the object of our prayers, and also teaches us that our prayers are founded and effectual in God alone – there is no merit in us that makes our prayers valuable or effective. The prayers of a righteous man availeth much, but who is righteous, there is no not one. It is God, by His grace, that makes us righteous by taking up our sin, and imputing to us His righteousness. By grace, we are wholly and thankfully dependant on Him!
The prayer is a model, not a mere liturgy to be recited or repeated thoughtlessly. Nor is it a formula that we might employ for our gain.
It is notable for its profound brevity and simplicity. It is remarkable for its comprehensiveness.
Therefore, let us know that we are to be in a right state of mind for praying, and not only be about ourselves and our advantage, but give the first place to God. Jesus shows us that prayer, like all other things is first God-centered.
Whenever we engage in prayer, there are two things to be considered; that we have access to Him and the we are dependant on Him. This is reflected here in the model from Jesus by His fatherly love and His boundless power.
Father – we call God our Father only because of our connection to Christ. Our union with the body of Christ makes us adopted children in the family of God and joint heirs with Christ to the kingdom of God. It would be foolish to assume access to God as our Father, apart from our absolute confidence in the work of Christ as both redeemer and mediator. In Christ, however, let us entertain no doubt that God is willing to receive us graciously and listen to our prayers. Let us enter in boldly, with all reverence and humility, into the presence of God.
Who is in Heaven – Jesus is not referring to a place where God dwells only there, but gives us a lofty view of the power of God. 2 Chronicles 2:6 says, “the heavens of heavens do not contain Him.” When the Scripture says that God is in heaven, the meaning is that all things are subject to His power. Psalm 115 makes this clear, “Our God is in heaven: He does whatever He pleases.” Ephesians 1:20-25 shows this to be true in the New Testament by affirming that this is the role of Christ after the ascension:
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
So, we know the design of Christ in the commencement of the prayer. He desires His people to rest their confidence on the fatherly love and boundless power of God, because unless our prayers be founded on faith, the will be of no advantage.
Just as the 10 commandments are divided into two tablets, the first concerning our relationship to God and the second concerning our relationship to people, so in this model Jesus enjoins us to consider 6 petitions, 3 for the glory of God and 3 for our own salvation.
A. Three for the Glory of God 9-10
1. Make Sacred the Name of God; To hallow or sanctify the name of God means nothing else but to give God the glory due to His name. In these first 3 petitions, we are to loose sight of ourselves and give glory to God. It is to our unspeakable advantage that God reigns and that He receives the honor due Him. That can not happen apart from us being consumed by self-forgetfulness in the presence of the infinitely majestic glory of God.
The name of God is made sacred by our praise, but our giving Him glory. The glory by which it is sanctified, flows from our acknowledgement of His attributes; His wisdom, goodness, righteousness, power, and all.
The substance of this petition is that the glory of God might shine in the world, and may be acknowledged by all men, that the name of God would be glorified above all and never profaned by our disrespect, irreverence, or neglect.
2. Long for the Kingdom of God; The kingdom of God is the reign of God, by which He rules over the universe which He created. God is said to reign among men, when they voluntarily devote and submit themselves to be governed by Him. In our sinful natures, we oppose the justice of God and obstruct His reign. By praying for His kingdom we ask that He remove all hinderances, our affections and will, and bring us all under His sovereign rule. This imperial work is done in part by the preaching of the word of God and secondly by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
There is still another way that the kingdom of God comes. That is by the judgment of God, when He overthrows His enemies and compels them to bow and confess, “till they all be made His footstool,” and “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord.”
For us, as believers, it is God’s will that He govern us by His word, in order that His kingdom may be established in us. The commencement of that reign is in the destruction of the old man, the surrendering of our affections and the denial of will, that we might be renewed to another life.
The substance of this prayer is that God might enlighten the world by the light of His word, and would rule in our lives by our voluntary submission to His word and Spirit, to obey His justice.
3. Submit to the Will of God; There is a close connection between these three petitions. The sanctification of the Name of God is always connected to His kingdom, and the most important part of His kingdom lies in His will being done. The will of God is a singular thing. However, we have seen His kingdom is brought in by various means. Thus, God both executes His will by His providence; as in heaven, where His angels are always ready to execute His commands, “harkening to the voice of His word,” and by temporal means; as on earth, using His word, His people and circumstances to bring about His will through obedience.
So, it is our desire in this prayer that God’s will be perfectly done through the obedience of His people, but more, that God might remove our obstinacy and rebellion, and make us gentle and submissive toward Him, that we may desire nothing but His rule in our live. We pray that the earth become obedient to the will of God, and that we hate and regret whatever we perceive to be contrary to the will of God.
B. Three for our Own Salvation 11-13
In this model prayer that Christ has prescribed to us, this is the second tablet. Simply for our understanding, the petitions that relate to the glory of God are contained in the first, and in the second part is how we ought to tend to our own salvation, or ask for ourselves. Not that these are void of the glory of God. In fact, we will see by the way Jesus constructs His prayer, that the object is our recognition of our dependence on God, which in turn brings glory to His many attributes as they concern our salvation.
1. Ask for Provision; We are first instructed to pray that God would provide for the needs of this life which He has given to us in the world. We need many things and this prayer is that he would supply us with everything that He knows to be needful for today. Now, it is to be remembered that Jesus himself taught us that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Therefore, this is not to the neglect of our spiritual need, but it is primarily a prayer for physical provision. “Lord, since our life needs new supplies every day, may it please you to grant them without interruption.”
The adverb “today” is added to restrain our excessive desire, and to teach us that we depend every moment on the provision of God, and ought to be content with what he gives. This is much the lesson Israel learned in the wilderness when God fed them daily through the provision of manna, and punished them both for desiring something more than He provided and for storing up His provision for later. These words are to remind us, unless God supply us daily, the largest accumulation of the necessities of life will be of no avail. If we are to pray sincerely, we must learn the example of Paul, “to be full and to be hungry, to abound and to have need.”
2. Ask for Forgiveness; We come first to God through the person and work of Christ, the chief work of which is the forgiveness of sins. So, it should not be assumed from the arrangement here that praying for forgiveness is of a second order. We must always pray for the pardoning of our sins by grace before we enter into the presence of God. Christ has here, in these last 2 petitions, included all that pertains to our salvation and to living the spiritual life; the forgiveness of sins, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.
Our sins are here called debts to magnify they bear with them a cost, a wage that makes us debtors to God. This sin debt is one that we can not pay ourselves, apart form eternal death (which is separation from God). Now, in our praying for forgiveness of our debt, we part form the economy of the world. A creditor is not said to forgive a debt when he has received payment, or expects any repayment for His forgiveness. There is no compensation owed here. Christ has paid the debt and God has set the debtor free. He ask nothing more. Jesus paid it all. The condition, “as we forgive our debtors” is added here so that no one may presume to approach God for forgiveness who has pride and resentment in their heart. Christ did not intend to point out the cause of our forgiveness, but to remind us of the attitude of the heart in which our forgiveness takes root.
Christ explains this complicated petition in verses 14-15, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” The name debtor is here given here not to those who owe us money, but to those who are indebted to us on account of offenses which they have committed toward us. Christ is saying, you live by the worlds economy – you die by the worlds economy, if you wish to live by grace, you must live with it in your own heart. Grace is the measure by which you are forgiven and therefore must forgive others.
3. Ask for Protection; Now here is the second half of our salvation petition, that which pertains to living the spiritual life. It is wrong to make this 2 petitions because they are clearly connected by a continuing conjunction. The effect is That we may not be lead into temptation, deliver us from evil. The meaning is then that we are conscious of our weakness and are joyfully dependant on God for His protection. Just as in the last petition we learned that we have no hope of gaining forgiveness of sin unless we admit we are a sinner, here we see that we have no hope of living a holy life unless we obtain it by the protection of God. We implore God to protect us and deliver us because we acknowledge that we can not be holy on our own. Unless God deliver us, we will be constantly failing.
The word temptation is generally used for any kind of trial. While God clearly never tempts us himself, He does often lead us into trial for the purpose of our spiritual growth, just as He led Jesus into the desert to fast and be confronted by the Devil, where He delivered Christ from evil by the power of His word.
Here, Christ is referring to an inward temptation, not an outward test to prove our faith. This is a scourge of the devil that excites our lusts. It would be foolish to ask God to keep us from every trial of adversity or prosperity that test or grows our faith. We ask that God not allow us to be thrown down and overwhelmed by temptations. Positively, Father, lead us away from temptation, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life.
Yet, deliver us from it. Deliver us from evil. Again this is not just a negative request for protection, but a display of our positive dependence on God – deliver me, Oh Lord!
Now, this may be taken as a neuter gender “the evil thing” or the masculine gender “the evil one.” There is no debate here because both are equally true and applicable. The Devil does contrive of everything evil and is the deadly enemy of our salvation and holy life, and we must depend on God for His deliverance from the evil one. Equally, sin is the evil thing within us that we must all primarily fight. Deliverance from an outward foe would benefit us not if we are yet to be delivered from the enemy within. From both the evil one and the evil thing, we do desperately depend on God to protect and deliver us.
[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen]
This final phrase does not appear in all of the early Latin manuscripts. It is a shame they left it out because it serves as a summary of Jesus’ model. It kindles our hearts to seek the glory of God and to remember Him and not ourselves as the object of our prayers, and also teaches us that our prayers are founded and effectual in God alone – there is no merit in us that makes our prayers valuable or effective. The prayers of a righteous man availeth much, but who is righteous, there is no not one. It is God, by His grace, that makes us righteous by taking up our sin, and imputing to us His righteousness. By grace, we are wholly and thankfully dependant on Him!
For Such A Time As This
As those of you who are regular readers of the Legacy Letter are aware, God has been working in my heart to redefine what Legacy is all about and our place in the kingdom. As I closed last month, I have really been impressed with an urgency for fighting the battle for the gospel, particularly in regards to passing down the faith, once delivered to the saints, to the next generation.
Part of what that means is that God has given me a desire to speak with a loud voice into the chasm of student ministry. There is a growing understanding that the way we have done student ministry for the past generation has failed. Our students are dropping out of church at an alarming rate and those who remain largely have no grasp of the gospel and its implications for their lives. As a result of this realization, there is a movement towards redefining student ministry. One group understands the need for more intentional teaching, and discipleship.
Unfortunately, there is a larger and opposite group that seems to think a more enthusiastic and creative entertainment and event based ministry model will be more successful. This is promoted, as you might expect, by the relevant and emerging church movements, as well as by popular evangelicalism. However, this is just more of the same model that has failed us for over a generation.
That is why we must speak, and why now is the time. In order for Legacy to have a voice of eternal consequence, we must make some changes and move ahead. My heart is for the church and my greatest desire is to see it become what God instituted it to be. It is that heart for the church that has led us to a new partnership in ministry with Bush Memorial Baptist Church, our home church here in Troy.
The leadership at Bush believes so much in our ministry that they have created a Discipleship and Education staff position that will allow me to both serve the church by implementing a Legacy discipleship and leadership development model, as well as lead Legacy from a church ministry platform.
That church ministry platform will allow Legacy to be more focused on our central callings:
To be a voice for the Strategic Youth and Family Ministry model.
To focus on leading Student Minister/Worker Conferences and teaching biblical principles and models to youth leaders.
Continuing to do ministry evaluations, volunteer workshops, parent seminars, and Lead events, as necessary to promote and teach biblical ministry principles.
We are working to create a new network of partner churches, and to put together conferences, with a focus on talking to leaders about the urgency we fell for discipleing students and engaging parents in the process. We also know we must continue to do a better job communicating with donors and support churches about the direction Legacy is taking. It will take a great deal of ongoing support to make this re-focusing of Legacy a long-term success.
Our goal is to double our monthly pledges and the number of support churches in 2008 and we are working to raise $4,000 in one –time donations by the end of 2007. We understand this is going to be a difficult task. However we are trusting God, because He has given me such an urgency, I am compelled to do whatever it takes and He has shown me that it is a blessing and an honor to involve other people in the vision he has given me and providing them with an opportunity to join in the work He desires to do through Legacy.
I believe God has put it on my heart to be an aggressive voice for His purposes to the next generation. As a result, I need to be surrounded by people who share that vision. Thank you for sharing that vision and I pray God give you an urgency for the spiritual lives of your children and grandchildren, and for the work of Legacy Ministries.
Part of what that means is that God has given me a desire to speak with a loud voice into the chasm of student ministry. There is a growing understanding that the way we have done student ministry for the past generation has failed. Our students are dropping out of church at an alarming rate and those who remain largely have no grasp of the gospel and its implications for their lives. As a result of this realization, there is a movement towards redefining student ministry. One group understands the need for more intentional teaching, and discipleship.
Unfortunately, there is a larger and opposite group that seems to think a more enthusiastic and creative entertainment and event based ministry model will be more successful. This is promoted, as you might expect, by the relevant and emerging church movements, as well as by popular evangelicalism. However, this is just more of the same model that has failed us for over a generation.
That is why we must speak, and why now is the time. In order for Legacy to have a voice of eternal consequence, we must make some changes and move ahead. My heart is for the church and my greatest desire is to see it become what God instituted it to be. It is that heart for the church that has led us to a new partnership in ministry with Bush Memorial Baptist Church, our home church here in Troy.
The leadership at Bush believes so much in our ministry that they have created a Discipleship and Education staff position that will allow me to both serve the church by implementing a Legacy discipleship and leadership development model, as well as lead Legacy from a church ministry platform.
That church ministry platform will allow Legacy to be more focused on our central callings:
To be a voice for the Strategic Youth and Family Ministry model.
To focus on leading Student Minister/Worker Conferences and teaching biblical principles and models to youth leaders.
Continuing to do ministry evaluations, volunteer workshops, parent seminars, and Lead events, as necessary to promote and teach biblical ministry principles.
We are working to create a new network of partner churches, and to put together conferences, with a focus on talking to leaders about the urgency we fell for discipleing students and engaging parents in the process. We also know we must continue to do a better job communicating with donors and support churches about the direction Legacy is taking. It will take a great deal of ongoing support to make this re-focusing of Legacy a long-term success.
Our goal is to double our monthly pledges and the number of support churches in 2008 and we are working to raise $4,000 in one –time donations by the end of 2007. We understand this is going to be a difficult task. However we are trusting God, because He has given me such an urgency, I am compelled to do whatever it takes and He has shown me that it is a blessing and an honor to involve other people in the vision he has given me and providing them with an opportunity to join in the work He desires to do through Legacy.
I believe God has put it on my heart to be an aggressive voice for His purposes to the next generation. As a result, I need to be surrounded by people who share that vision. Thank you for sharing that vision and I pray God give you an urgency for the spiritual lives of your children and grandchildren, and for the work of Legacy Ministries.
Monday, September 17, 2007
“The whole body . . . causes the growth of the body.”
Ephesians 4:1-16 (ESV)
The evident truth: You can not just show up on Sunday and feel like a part of the body of Christ. You have to be engaged in the activity of the family of God and you have to be engaged in the service of the body. You have to try, you have to participate! We have to make it our priority to preserve the unity of the body and enjoy the fellowship of the family of God.
The Maintenance of Unity vs. 1-6
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
“Therefore” marks the transition from doctrine to duty, principle to practice, position to behavior. This is typical of Paul, and what he urges us to do, practically, out of a sense of duty, is to walk - live the progression of our lives - in a manner worthy of our calling, in a way that reflects the nature and character of our calling. So what is our calling?
Our Calling – The Gospel vs. 1
As always in the Epistles, our call refers to the call of God to salvation. It encapsulates the Gospel. We are to walk in a way that honors the objective truth of the Gospel: That there is a God and He is righteous and gracious, holy and loving, merciful and just. Man has rebelled against God and in our pride chosen self over God, and in our arrogance chosen the things of the world over the things of God. In His righteous, holy justice, God must punish our sin, and the payment He has set for sin is death, separation, hell. In His merciful, loving Grace, God chose to forgive our sin and make us righteous by demonstrating His love by the sending of His son, Jesus, the Christ, born without sin, to live a sinless life, giving us His righteousness, and dying an innocent death, paying our sin debt, and raising Him from the grave, purchasing for us and eternal inheritance in the kingdom of God. We are to live in a way that demonstrates the subjective truth of the Gospel in our lives: That we have believed in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, and confessed with our mouths that God raised Him from the grave. That we who have believed in the person and work of Christ, shall not perish but do have everlasting life.
The Gift – Unity vs. 2
In that calling, there is an implied gift. The gift of unity is assumed here. Humility, gentleness, and patience are reflected in a forbearing love for others that is here continuous and unconditional.
Now, here is the key point – “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” In our humble, gentle, and patient lives, that are reflecting the honor, nature and character of the truth of the gospel, we are to be diligently working to preserve the gift of unity – to preserve the gift that is the work of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ – unity!
Unity is not our creation, or our work. We should be eager to maintain the unity we have (the unity of the reality of the presence of God) preserving the gift of unity that we have is our duty and we are to do so in the bond of peace. What is the bond of peace? Love. Colossians 3:14 says, in an exposition of this entire passage, “Beyond all of these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” If you read 1 Corinthians 13, you see why love is a bond of peace, because it is patient, gentle, and humble, it bears all personal things and endures forever! It is that which is demonstrated on the Cross. That is why unity is so precious to God. Yes because the world will know us by our love, but more, they will know the truth of the gospel by our unity in love! Unity is a gospel issue.
The Result – Identity (oneness) vs. 4-6
The result of this bond of peace, this unity, is a singular identity, a oneness that goes to our nature and character, to our capacity to reflect the nature and character of God.
One Body – the Church
One Spirit – the Presence of God
One Hope – the Gospel
One Lord – the Christ
One Faith – the Cross
One Baptism – the Resurrection
One God – the Father, King and sovereign Lord!
So, what is it that the Church is supposed to look like? Paul gives us his vision of the church -
Paul’s Vision of the Church vs. 16
Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Paul’s inspired vision gives us three aspects of the proper functioning of the church:
The Head, The Body, and The Result.
Christ as Head – The Gospel (vs. 9-10)
This refers to and assumes the headship of Christ. It can do so on the basis of verses 9 & 10.
In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
Christ, having perfectly fulfilled all prophecies and his divinely-ordained redemptive purposes, took possession of His right to rule the church and, as we will see, give gifts.
Given this context and the picture of the church as a body whose head is Christ, “head” is used in the sense of authoritative leader, not source (as some would prefer) which would require a different picture altogether, since your head is not the source of you, but your controlling member.
The power of the church, then, to produce its intended purpose does not come primarily from the effort of its believing members, but from their Head, who is Christ.
So, in our dependence on Him, what is the role of the Body?
Whole Body – working together properly (Col. 2:19)
A godly, biblical, healthy church comes from every member of the body holding the body together by the love that each individual supplies to it and from every member working together in a manner that is appropriate for each individual member. Colossians 2:18-19 is a helpful parallel verse in showing us this principle in the context of its opposite:
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism(or legalism) and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
There is no spiritual growth for the body apart from union with the head and the proper working of all the parts or members. When the church is submissive to the leadership of Christ (and I might add God’s chosen under-shepherd, the pastor) and walking in the unity of the faith, godly, biblical, healthy church growth happens.
The Result – causes the growth of the Body
The result of Paul’s vision for the church is that the whole body, working together properly under the headship of Christ, will cause the growth of the body!
How? vs. 7-8, 11-12
How do we hold together in love? How do we know what is appropriate for each individual member? How do we work together properly under the headship of Christ? How can we cause each other to grow spiritually and thus cause the body to grow spiritually and numerically, in a godly, biblical and healthy way?
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men."
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
In that verse, we need to see two primary blessings of empowerment, by which God equips us for this good work of building the Church by His power!
Grace – The Gospel vs. 7
But to each one, in a way transitioning from the focus on the unity of the body to the uniqueness of the individual believers, because I believe that throughout Scripture, we find both an individual responsibility and accountability before God and a corporate responsibility and accountability before God. We stand before God both as individuals and as a body, and God both disciplines and blesses His children both individually and as a body. That is why I believe church membership is so important. It puts us in position to both be accountable to the body and with the body, and to be blessed by the body and with the body. (heart for new members class)
Grace – is a single word definition of the gospel, and since I think I clearly presented my testimony about the gospel before, I will only say that here it amplifies God as the God who freely gives; His giving has nothing to do with what we have done or deserve, but is unmerited, unearned. The gifts that God gives are gifts of grace!
Gifts - vs. 8, 11-12
1. Freely Given; Again these are gifts of grace, that God gives that we might accomplish His purposes. We do not have to earn them and they are not merit badges! As such , they are not to be areas of pride or religious arrogance. They are to be worn with humility, but not shame, for they are our equipping for the good work God has created and called us to do. Every true believer has at least one spiritual gift that was imparted to them at conversion. We should know what our gift is, and by the power of the Spirit, we should learn to properly exercise that gift for the equipping of the saints and the building up of the body.
2. Specifically Given; Christ possesses authority to assign these gifts. To all He has called into service, he has given specific gifts, given so specifically that they are characterized as specifically gifted persons. We will not go into what each one of these means. For now, I just want us to see the specific nature of our giftedness in that God does not just give the gift of evangelism, Christ gives the gift of the evangelists, people who are specifically gifted to proclaim the good news of the gospel to unbelievers. It is a specific gifting that equips us for our specific calling. How exciting it is to think about a church, who knows and understands their unique gifting and how God intends to use that for the equipping of the saints and the building up of the church!
3. Purposefully Given; That’s right, Jesus not only gives these gifts specifically, but purposefully. It is not enough to know your gift. You must exercise it! We must know how to use that gift to accomplish the purposes of God for which it was given! Every gift must be employed for the two purposes that are given in this text. We are to exercise our gifts for the equipping (to make fit or complete, to give the appropriate spiritual equipment) of the Saints (all who believe in Jesus) for the work of service (serving others, the body as a whole and the kingdom of God). We are to exercise our gifts in the building up of the body of Christ (The spiritual edification, nurturing, and development of the church).
How exciting it is to think about a church, who knows and understands their unique gifting and how God intends to use them for the equipping of the saints and the building up of the church!
Godly, biblical, healthy church growth happens when every member of the body is fully using his spiritual gift, in submission to the head, and in cooperation with all of the other believers. Not only does your growth depend on you using your gift, but the growth of the church and therefore the growth of all the other individual members depends on you using your gifts in a submissive, cooperative, appropriate way for the purpose of equipping the Saints for the work of service, and building up the body of Christ to spiritual maturity.
Result – a picture of real growth vs. 13-15
So, quickly, what is the result? The result of Paul’s vision is summarized in three things: Unity of Faith, Knowledge of the Son, and Spiritual Maturity.
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
Unity of Faith vs. 13a
Unity is not an abstraction. Neither is Paul advocating unity for unity’s sake. Unity is fundamentally a product of content. Faith here refers to the body of revealed truth that constitutes orthodox Christian teaching, particularly pertaining to the gospel. True oneness and harmony among believers is only possible when it is built on the foundation of Truth. All other unity is false, vain, and deception. That is why unity is not about superficial preferences. For instance, the Content and Object of Worship must be established as more important than the context and style (or preference). Style of music is merely a vain preference, the content of our words and God as the object of our worship is a point of unity. In the New Testament there is a stunning indifference to place and external form, but an amplified intensity concerning the spiritual how and the theological who.
Knowledge of the Son vs. 13b
That places, knowledge of the Son at the center of Church life! This is not simply salvation knowledge (though it certainly assumes that), but a deep knowledge of Christ that a believer comes to through prayer, faithful study of His word, and obedience to His commands. It is primarily a heart issue because I would venture to say that virtually all falsehood comes from this: a stronger affection for the pleasures of sin than for the Truth of God. So the issue of truth is an issue of the heart before it is an issue of the head.
However, the modern church is largely and increasingly mentally deficient. The idea that the Christian message should be kept pliable and as ambiguous as possible in order to appeal to a emotion driven, self-centered, postmodern culture seems especially attractive believers who are more in tune with culture than with God and love the spirit of this age. However, not knowing what you believe is by definition a kind of unbelief. Every Christian should know and love the truth. As we gain the ability to chew and digest deeper truths, we are supposed to be nourished by the meat of the word. We move from a merely childlike knowledge to a more mature grasp of truth in all its richness, and relationship to other truth. We know God by knowing the truth that he has revealed about Himself.
Spiritual Maturity vs. 13c-15
That leads to the final fruit, or result of every member, under the headship of Christ, unified in the truth of the gospel, using their gifts for the equipping of the saints and the building up of the body, spiritual maturity. I believe we can see here both individual maturity and corporate maturity, as Paul speaks to us corporately.
God wants every believer to manifest the qualities of His Son, who is the standard of spiritual maturity. He wants each of us to have a mature faith, and a mature knowledge. He does not want us to remain as spiritual children, tossed around by every Christian bookstore fad, and carried away by every wind of doctrine. Spiritually immature believers are not grounded in the faith, and knowledge of the Son, and are inclined to uncritically accept every sort of popular doctrine or false interpretation promoted by deceitful, false teachers inside and outside of the church. Babies eat what you give them, but we must learn to discern truth. We must also learn to speak truth. It is not enough to discern it, but our calling is to share the truth of God with a lost and dying world. It is not arrogance to share truth, it is the greatest love.
God’s call on our lives today is to grow up. We are to be completely yielded and obedient to the Lord, submissive to His power and authority, and growing in Christ-likeness in all areas of our lives – loving God and His truth more than any or all the things of the world.
The evident truth: You can not just show up on Sunday and feel like a part of the body of Christ. You have to be engaged in the activity of the family of God and you have to be engaged in the service of the body. You have to try, you have to participate! We have to make it our priority to preserve the unity of the body and enjoy the fellowship of the family of God.
The Maintenance of Unity vs. 1-6
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
“Therefore” marks the transition from doctrine to duty, principle to practice, position to behavior. This is typical of Paul, and what he urges us to do, practically, out of a sense of duty, is to walk - live the progression of our lives - in a manner worthy of our calling, in a way that reflects the nature and character of our calling. So what is our calling?
Our Calling – The Gospel vs. 1
As always in the Epistles, our call refers to the call of God to salvation. It encapsulates the Gospel. We are to walk in a way that honors the objective truth of the Gospel: That there is a God and He is righteous and gracious, holy and loving, merciful and just. Man has rebelled against God and in our pride chosen self over God, and in our arrogance chosen the things of the world over the things of God. In His righteous, holy justice, God must punish our sin, and the payment He has set for sin is death, separation, hell. In His merciful, loving Grace, God chose to forgive our sin and make us righteous by demonstrating His love by the sending of His son, Jesus, the Christ, born without sin, to live a sinless life, giving us His righteousness, and dying an innocent death, paying our sin debt, and raising Him from the grave, purchasing for us and eternal inheritance in the kingdom of God. We are to live in a way that demonstrates the subjective truth of the Gospel in our lives: That we have believed in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, and confessed with our mouths that God raised Him from the grave. That we who have believed in the person and work of Christ, shall not perish but do have everlasting life.
The Gift – Unity vs. 2
In that calling, there is an implied gift. The gift of unity is assumed here. Humility, gentleness, and patience are reflected in a forbearing love for others that is here continuous and unconditional.
Now, here is the key point – “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” In our humble, gentle, and patient lives, that are reflecting the honor, nature and character of the truth of the gospel, we are to be diligently working to preserve the gift of unity – to preserve the gift that is the work of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ – unity!
Unity is not our creation, or our work. We should be eager to maintain the unity we have (the unity of the reality of the presence of God) preserving the gift of unity that we have is our duty and we are to do so in the bond of peace. What is the bond of peace? Love. Colossians 3:14 says, in an exposition of this entire passage, “Beyond all of these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” If you read 1 Corinthians 13, you see why love is a bond of peace, because it is patient, gentle, and humble, it bears all personal things and endures forever! It is that which is demonstrated on the Cross. That is why unity is so precious to God. Yes because the world will know us by our love, but more, they will know the truth of the gospel by our unity in love! Unity is a gospel issue.
The Result – Identity (oneness) vs. 4-6
The result of this bond of peace, this unity, is a singular identity, a oneness that goes to our nature and character, to our capacity to reflect the nature and character of God.
One Body – the Church
One Spirit – the Presence of God
One Hope – the Gospel
One Lord – the Christ
One Faith – the Cross
One Baptism – the Resurrection
One God – the Father, King and sovereign Lord!
So, what is it that the Church is supposed to look like? Paul gives us his vision of the church -
Paul’s Vision of the Church vs. 16
Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Paul’s inspired vision gives us three aspects of the proper functioning of the church:
The Head, The Body, and The Result.
Christ as Head – The Gospel (vs. 9-10)
This refers to and assumes the headship of Christ. It can do so on the basis of verses 9 & 10.
In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
Christ, having perfectly fulfilled all prophecies and his divinely-ordained redemptive purposes, took possession of His right to rule the church and, as we will see, give gifts.
Given this context and the picture of the church as a body whose head is Christ, “head” is used in the sense of authoritative leader, not source (as some would prefer) which would require a different picture altogether, since your head is not the source of you, but your controlling member.
The power of the church, then, to produce its intended purpose does not come primarily from the effort of its believing members, but from their Head, who is Christ.
So, in our dependence on Him, what is the role of the Body?
Whole Body – working together properly (Col. 2:19)
A godly, biblical, healthy church comes from every member of the body holding the body together by the love that each individual supplies to it and from every member working together in a manner that is appropriate for each individual member. Colossians 2:18-19 is a helpful parallel verse in showing us this principle in the context of its opposite:
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism(or legalism) and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
There is no spiritual growth for the body apart from union with the head and the proper working of all the parts or members. When the church is submissive to the leadership of Christ (and I might add God’s chosen under-shepherd, the pastor) and walking in the unity of the faith, godly, biblical, healthy church growth happens.
The Result – causes the growth of the Body
The result of Paul’s vision for the church is that the whole body, working together properly under the headship of Christ, will cause the growth of the body!
How? vs. 7-8, 11-12
How do we hold together in love? How do we know what is appropriate for each individual member? How do we work together properly under the headship of Christ? How can we cause each other to grow spiritually and thus cause the body to grow spiritually and numerically, in a godly, biblical and healthy way?
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men."
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
In that verse, we need to see two primary blessings of empowerment, by which God equips us for this good work of building the Church by His power!
Grace – The Gospel vs. 7
But to each one, in a way transitioning from the focus on the unity of the body to the uniqueness of the individual believers, because I believe that throughout Scripture, we find both an individual responsibility and accountability before God and a corporate responsibility and accountability before God. We stand before God both as individuals and as a body, and God both disciplines and blesses His children both individually and as a body. That is why I believe church membership is so important. It puts us in position to both be accountable to the body and with the body, and to be blessed by the body and with the body. (heart for new members class)
Grace – is a single word definition of the gospel, and since I think I clearly presented my testimony about the gospel before, I will only say that here it amplifies God as the God who freely gives; His giving has nothing to do with what we have done or deserve, but is unmerited, unearned. The gifts that God gives are gifts of grace!
Gifts - vs. 8, 11-12
1. Freely Given; Again these are gifts of grace, that God gives that we might accomplish His purposes. We do not have to earn them and they are not merit badges! As such , they are not to be areas of pride or religious arrogance. They are to be worn with humility, but not shame, for they are our equipping for the good work God has created and called us to do. Every true believer has at least one spiritual gift that was imparted to them at conversion. We should know what our gift is, and by the power of the Spirit, we should learn to properly exercise that gift for the equipping of the saints and the building up of the body.
2. Specifically Given; Christ possesses authority to assign these gifts. To all He has called into service, he has given specific gifts, given so specifically that they are characterized as specifically gifted persons. We will not go into what each one of these means. For now, I just want us to see the specific nature of our giftedness in that God does not just give the gift of evangelism, Christ gives the gift of the evangelists, people who are specifically gifted to proclaim the good news of the gospel to unbelievers. It is a specific gifting that equips us for our specific calling. How exciting it is to think about a church, who knows and understands their unique gifting and how God intends to use that for the equipping of the saints and the building up of the church!
3. Purposefully Given; That’s right, Jesus not only gives these gifts specifically, but purposefully. It is not enough to know your gift. You must exercise it! We must know how to use that gift to accomplish the purposes of God for which it was given! Every gift must be employed for the two purposes that are given in this text. We are to exercise our gifts for the equipping (to make fit or complete, to give the appropriate spiritual equipment) of the Saints (all who believe in Jesus) for the work of service (serving others, the body as a whole and the kingdom of God). We are to exercise our gifts in the building up of the body of Christ (The spiritual edification, nurturing, and development of the church).
How exciting it is to think about a church, who knows and understands their unique gifting and how God intends to use them for the equipping of the saints and the building up of the church!
Godly, biblical, healthy church growth happens when every member of the body is fully using his spiritual gift, in submission to the head, and in cooperation with all of the other believers. Not only does your growth depend on you using your gift, but the growth of the church and therefore the growth of all the other individual members depends on you using your gifts in a submissive, cooperative, appropriate way for the purpose of equipping the Saints for the work of service, and building up the body of Christ to spiritual maturity.
Result – a picture of real growth vs. 13-15
So, quickly, what is the result? The result of Paul’s vision is summarized in three things: Unity of Faith, Knowledge of the Son, and Spiritual Maturity.
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
Unity of Faith vs. 13a
Unity is not an abstraction. Neither is Paul advocating unity for unity’s sake. Unity is fundamentally a product of content. Faith here refers to the body of revealed truth that constitutes orthodox Christian teaching, particularly pertaining to the gospel. True oneness and harmony among believers is only possible when it is built on the foundation of Truth. All other unity is false, vain, and deception. That is why unity is not about superficial preferences. For instance, the Content and Object of Worship must be established as more important than the context and style (or preference). Style of music is merely a vain preference, the content of our words and God as the object of our worship is a point of unity. In the New Testament there is a stunning indifference to place and external form, but an amplified intensity concerning the spiritual how and the theological who.
Knowledge of the Son vs. 13b
That places, knowledge of the Son at the center of Church life! This is not simply salvation knowledge (though it certainly assumes that), but a deep knowledge of Christ that a believer comes to through prayer, faithful study of His word, and obedience to His commands. It is primarily a heart issue because I would venture to say that virtually all falsehood comes from this: a stronger affection for the pleasures of sin than for the Truth of God. So the issue of truth is an issue of the heart before it is an issue of the head.
However, the modern church is largely and increasingly mentally deficient. The idea that the Christian message should be kept pliable and as ambiguous as possible in order to appeal to a emotion driven, self-centered, postmodern culture seems especially attractive believers who are more in tune with culture than with God and love the spirit of this age. However, not knowing what you believe is by definition a kind of unbelief. Every Christian should know and love the truth. As we gain the ability to chew and digest deeper truths, we are supposed to be nourished by the meat of the word. We move from a merely childlike knowledge to a more mature grasp of truth in all its richness, and relationship to other truth. We know God by knowing the truth that he has revealed about Himself.
Spiritual Maturity vs. 13c-15
That leads to the final fruit, or result of every member, under the headship of Christ, unified in the truth of the gospel, using their gifts for the equipping of the saints and the building up of the body, spiritual maturity. I believe we can see here both individual maturity and corporate maturity, as Paul speaks to us corporately.
God wants every believer to manifest the qualities of His Son, who is the standard of spiritual maturity. He wants each of us to have a mature faith, and a mature knowledge. He does not want us to remain as spiritual children, tossed around by every Christian bookstore fad, and carried away by every wind of doctrine. Spiritually immature believers are not grounded in the faith, and knowledge of the Son, and are inclined to uncritically accept every sort of popular doctrine or false interpretation promoted by deceitful, false teachers inside and outside of the church. Babies eat what you give them, but we must learn to discern truth. We must also learn to speak truth. It is not enough to discern it, but our calling is to share the truth of God with a lost and dying world. It is not arrogance to share truth, it is the greatest love.
God’s call on our lives today is to grow up. We are to be completely yielded and obedient to the Lord, submissive to His power and authority, and growing in Christ-likeness in all areas of our lives – loving God and His truth more than any or all the things of the world.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Truth: an issue of the heart and head
I would venture to say that virtually all falsehood comes from this: a stronger affection for the pleasures of sin than for the Truth of God.
So you see that the issue of truth is an issue of the heart before it is an issue of the head. When the heart is in love with self-exaltation and independence and the pleasures of sin, the mind will inevitably distort the truth or suppress the truth in order to protect the idols of the heart. What is needed is not just new ideas or more information, (though I believe they are both needed desperately!) but a new heart. And a new set of passions and desires and pleasures.
Throughout the Bible, we see that people, even believers, develop ungodly lives when they reject the truth of God’s word.
When we deny what God has revealed about himself, we form a wrong view of who God is.
That wrong view of God always leads to faulty worship because we worship some god of our own creation and not the God that has been clearly revealed in Scripture, and we worship in some way that we have devised out of our own pride and creativity instead of the way God has revealed He desires to be worshipped.
That wrong view of God always leads to a defective relationship with God because we are separated from God by our rejection of His truth, and because we are self-deceived in our relationship to our false god.
As a result of our faulty worship and defective relationship, our devotion to God wanes in disillusionment and our reverence is absent because our god is no god at all. This is by definition, ungodliness.
Unrighteousness is the result of ungodliness. Apart from God there is no righteousness. When we develop a wrong view of God and nurture that view through faulty worship, that wrong view of God always leads to either religious legalism, moral relativism or both. There is no conformity of thought, word, or deed to the character of God. When we deny what God has revealed about Himself, our view of Him fails. When our view of Him fails, our worship of Him falters. When our worship falters, there is no reverence, His truth has no authority and we are free to live life any way we choose or see fit. This is the great hope of progressive liberalism and postmodern culture.
The Remedy:
So here is the great lesson to be learned: the reason the mind evades, twists, distorts, manipulates and suppresses the truth of God is not mainly that we are mentally deficient, but because we are morally deficient. We suppress the Light of God's glory and power because we love the darkness of our own independence. We love our sins, our self-determination, and therefore we suppress the Truth that God is God and that we are to depend on him and live for his glory.
And this, Paul says in Romans 1:18, is why the wrath of God is being poured out. This suppression of the truth of his glory and his power and his deity and his goodness, because of our love affair with unrighteousness, makes him furious. And we should tremble.
Secondly, the modern church is largely and increasingly mentally deficient. The idea that the Christian message should be kept pliable and as ambiguous as possible in order to appeal to an emotion driven, self-centered, postmodern culture seems especially attractive to immature believers who are more in tune with culture than with God and love the spirit of this age. However, not knowing what you believe is by definition a kind of unbelief. Every Christian should know and love the truth. As we gain the ability to chew and digest deeper truths, we are supposed to be nourished by the meat of the word. We move from a merely childlike knowledge to a more mature grasp of truth in all its richness and relationship to other truth. We know God by knowing the truth that he has revealed about Himself.
So you see that the issue of truth is an issue of the heart before it is an issue of the head. When the heart is in love with self-exaltation and independence and the pleasures of sin, the mind will inevitably distort the truth or suppress the truth in order to protect the idols of the heart. What is needed is not just new ideas or more information, (though I believe they are both needed desperately!) but a new heart. And a new set of passions and desires and pleasures.
Throughout the Bible, we see that people, even believers, develop ungodly lives when they reject the truth of God’s word.
When we deny what God has revealed about himself, we form a wrong view of who God is.
That wrong view of God always leads to faulty worship because we worship some god of our own creation and not the God that has been clearly revealed in Scripture, and we worship in some way that we have devised out of our own pride and creativity instead of the way God has revealed He desires to be worshipped.
That wrong view of God always leads to a defective relationship with God because we are separated from God by our rejection of His truth, and because we are self-deceived in our relationship to our false god.
As a result of our faulty worship and defective relationship, our devotion to God wanes in disillusionment and our reverence is absent because our god is no god at all. This is by definition, ungodliness.
Unrighteousness is the result of ungodliness. Apart from God there is no righteousness. When we develop a wrong view of God and nurture that view through faulty worship, that wrong view of God always leads to either religious legalism, moral relativism or both. There is no conformity of thought, word, or deed to the character of God. When we deny what God has revealed about Himself, our view of Him fails. When our view of Him fails, our worship of Him falters. When our worship falters, there is no reverence, His truth has no authority and we are free to live life any way we choose or see fit. This is the great hope of progressive liberalism and postmodern culture.
The Remedy:
So here is the great lesson to be learned: the reason the mind evades, twists, distorts, manipulates and suppresses the truth of God is not mainly that we are mentally deficient, but because we are morally deficient. We suppress the Light of God's glory and power because we love the darkness of our own independence. We love our sins, our self-determination, and therefore we suppress the Truth that God is God and that we are to depend on him and live for his glory.
And this, Paul says in Romans 1:18, is why the wrath of God is being poured out. This suppression of the truth of his glory and his power and his deity and his goodness, because of our love affair with unrighteousness, makes him furious. And we should tremble.
Secondly, the modern church is largely and increasingly mentally deficient. The idea that the Christian message should be kept pliable and as ambiguous as possible in order to appeal to an emotion driven, self-centered, postmodern culture seems especially attractive to immature believers who are more in tune with culture than with God and love the spirit of this age. However, not knowing what you believe is by definition a kind of unbelief. Every Christian should know and love the truth. As we gain the ability to chew and digest deeper truths, we are supposed to be nourished by the meat of the word. We move from a merely childlike knowledge to a more mature grasp of truth in all its richness and relationship to other truth. We know God by knowing the truth that he has revealed about Himself.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Spirit and Truth
This weekend I had the privilege of touring with my close friends from Four Days Late. We traveled from Gadsden, AL to Charlotte, NC, Darlington, SC, and Myrtle Beach, SC. My primary role on the trip was to serve as road pastor for the band. It was a unique experience that brought great joy to my soul and refreshed my vision concerning many things.
I have been on a long study of the nature of truth this summer, and so, as I thought about what I should share with the band during our Bible study opportunities it became clear to me that we should take a deeper look at what it means to worship in spirit and in truth.
To begin with, it is funny how God can make the way straight for His purposes without us really even knowing it or realizing it. As we traveled the first leg of our tour, we had wonderful, somewhat spontaneous, conversations about what we believed about God. The one idea that summarizes those conversations is that it does not matter so much what you believe or want to believe, but what is true. That's right - true. Some things are true whether you believe them or not. That is why we must be willing to accept whatever God says about Himself whether we like it or not. I think the most dangerous statement we can ever make is, "I just can not believe in a God who is like that." If God has revealed in His word that He is like that, you have just denied God. You may ask, "How can I know for sure what the Bible says about God? Well, that seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the week.
On Monday, the band played for a youth leaders luncheon in Myrtle Beach, where Josh McDowell was the featured speaker. He talked about truth and emphasized many of the things MacArthur does in his book Truth War, and did so on the basis of the wonderful work of Francis Schaeffer, particularly in Escape from Reason. McDowell's unique contribution was a convincing style of presentation and the ability to demonstrate many of the realities concerning the truth crisis among students through his own research and statistics, along with that of George Barna and Thom Rainer. At the end of the day, his million dollar question was the same, "how do we know that what we believe is true?"
It is funny, because our first stop allowed us to dive into the idea of true worship being in spirit and truth. I would first like to point out that worship is not of spirit and truth. We do not worship spirit or truth. Christ informs us that God is seeking true worshipers who will worship in spirit. Primarily, this emphasizes the New Testament's radical departure from an emphasis on the place and external form of worship. That emphasis turns to the central ideas of who and how. Where you worship, whether in the temple or on the mountain, falls away and the worship of the one true God, through the person of Christ, is lifted up. The form or activity of worship falls away and the worship of God according to his own desires, in spirit and in truth as He has prescribed, is elevated. Spirit implies heart, the core of our being. The heart work of our worship is to be loving God above all things with all of our being. Truth implies content. The head work of worship is to be thinking rightly about God, the one true God as He has revealed himself in Scripture. How do we know what is true about God?
That first stop allowed us to see the tragedy of worship in spirit, but absent of truth. This is no reflection of the band. They did their part. Let's just say, the lyrics of the songs were the strongest testimony of the truth, not the preaching of the word as God commands.
Our second stop allowed us to see the tragedy of worship in truth, but without spirit. Again, though tired and frustrated, the music and the preaching were what is to be expected. But the reality of my previous blogs concerning youth ministry and the absence of doctrine and truth was made obvious in the lack of desire for God, the lack of heart for worship we found. Worship and God seemed to be non-existent on the priority lists of most of the participants.
Having seen the reality of what we had been discussing all weekend played out before us, our conversations reached a passionate high as we entered Myrtle Beach late Sunday night.
As we talked into the night, the obvious answer became relationship. We are so self-centered that we can not rightly conceive of God, who is overwhelmingly God-centered. We are so self-consumed that we can hardly manage to give our hearts submissively to God. And so, how do we know? By spiritual discernment. By submerging ourselves in the truth of God's word until we are so full of the Spirit and so controlled by the mind of Christ that we inherently know the things of God distinctly apart from the things of this world. We know heart, not appearance. We know fellowship, not games. We know truth, not opinion, philosophy, novelty, or lies.
And the venerable McDowell asks, "How do you know it is true?" And we respond, "Because God is a relational God. He desires to have a real and personal relationship with us. He knows us perfectly and he knows the only way we can ever have a relationship with Him is for Him to show himself to us. God must reveal himself in an understandable and sufficient way so that we might know Him. God wants to be known, and so, we can know with great confidence that what He says about Himself in Scripture is eternally true and ultimately sufficient."
Oh, but how do you know that He is relational? How do you know that God desires to have a relationship with you? Well, because I have one. I have a relationship with God. He chose me, pursued me, purchased me and loved me before I even asked if it was true. Modern thought said if it is true it will work. And postmodern thought says that if it works it is true. My relationship to God says both. God is the source and measure of all truth and so His word is truth and therefore it will work. God is my creator and redeemer, my master and my friend and so His word works and therefore it must be true.
I have been on a long study of the nature of truth this summer, and so, as I thought about what I should share with the band during our Bible study opportunities it became clear to me that we should take a deeper look at what it means to worship in spirit and in truth.
To begin with, it is funny how God can make the way straight for His purposes without us really even knowing it or realizing it. As we traveled the first leg of our tour, we had wonderful, somewhat spontaneous, conversations about what we believed about God. The one idea that summarizes those conversations is that it does not matter so much what you believe or want to believe, but what is true. That's right - true. Some things are true whether you believe them or not. That is why we must be willing to accept whatever God says about Himself whether we like it or not. I think the most dangerous statement we can ever make is, "I just can not believe in a God who is like that." If God has revealed in His word that He is like that, you have just denied God. You may ask, "How can I know for sure what the Bible says about God? Well, that seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the week.
On Monday, the band played for a youth leaders luncheon in Myrtle Beach, where Josh McDowell was the featured speaker. He talked about truth and emphasized many of the things MacArthur does in his book Truth War, and did so on the basis of the wonderful work of Francis Schaeffer, particularly in Escape from Reason. McDowell's unique contribution was a convincing style of presentation and the ability to demonstrate many of the realities concerning the truth crisis among students through his own research and statistics, along with that of George Barna and Thom Rainer. At the end of the day, his million dollar question was the same, "how do we know that what we believe is true?"
It is funny, because our first stop allowed us to dive into the idea of true worship being in spirit and truth. I would first like to point out that worship is not of spirit and truth. We do not worship spirit or truth. Christ informs us that God is seeking true worshipers who will worship in spirit. Primarily, this emphasizes the New Testament's radical departure from an emphasis on the place and external form of worship. That emphasis turns to the central ideas of who and how. Where you worship, whether in the temple or on the mountain, falls away and the worship of the one true God, through the person of Christ, is lifted up. The form or activity of worship falls away and the worship of God according to his own desires, in spirit and in truth as He has prescribed, is elevated. Spirit implies heart, the core of our being. The heart work of our worship is to be loving God above all things with all of our being. Truth implies content. The head work of worship is to be thinking rightly about God, the one true God as He has revealed himself in Scripture. How do we know what is true about God?
That first stop allowed us to see the tragedy of worship in spirit, but absent of truth. This is no reflection of the band. They did their part. Let's just say, the lyrics of the songs were the strongest testimony of the truth, not the preaching of the word as God commands.
Our second stop allowed us to see the tragedy of worship in truth, but without spirit. Again, though tired and frustrated, the music and the preaching were what is to be expected. But the reality of my previous blogs concerning youth ministry and the absence of doctrine and truth was made obvious in the lack of desire for God, the lack of heart for worship we found. Worship and God seemed to be non-existent on the priority lists of most of the participants.
Having seen the reality of what we had been discussing all weekend played out before us, our conversations reached a passionate high as we entered Myrtle Beach late Sunday night.
As we talked into the night, the obvious answer became relationship. We are so self-centered that we can not rightly conceive of God, who is overwhelmingly God-centered. We are so self-consumed that we can hardly manage to give our hearts submissively to God. And so, how do we know? By spiritual discernment. By submerging ourselves in the truth of God's word until we are so full of the Spirit and so controlled by the mind of Christ that we inherently know the things of God distinctly apart from the things of this world. We know heart, not appearance. We know fellowship, not games. We know truth, not opinion, philosophy, novelty, or lies.
And the venerable McDowell asks, "How do you know it is true?" And we respond, "Because God is a relational God. He desires to have a real and personal relationship with us. He knows us perfectly and he knows the only way we can ever have a relationship with Him is for Him to show himself to us. God must reveal himself in an understandable and sufficient way so that we might know Him. God wants to be known, and so, we can know with great confidence that what He says about Himself in Scripture is eternally true and ultimately sufficient."
Oh, but how do you know that He is relational? How do you know that God desires to have a relationship with you? Well, because I have one. I have a relationship with God. He chose me, pursued me, purchased me and loved me before I even asked if it was true. Modern thought said if it is true it will work. And postmodern thought says that if it works it is true. My relationship to God says both. God is the source and measure of all truth and so His word is truth and therefore it will work. God is my creator and redeemer, my master and my friend and so His word works and therefore it must be true.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Truth in Youth Ministry
I do not make a habit of copying blogs. However, I got one today pertaining to Truth or right doctrine in Youth Ministry and how it has very real, tangable results in the lives of students. I beleive this with the core of my being, and as this blog says, the Bible clearly teaches it. This magnifies what I have been reading in The Truth War by MacArthur. We need to read this truth, be reminded of what it is we are called to do and then respond in faith and obedience to it.
Good Doctrine Makes Better (Teenage) Saints
August 15, 2007
By John Piper
Here it is again. More evidence from surveys what the Bible makes so plain: superficial, non-doctrinal, non-serious Christians sin pretty much like the world; but more serious, more doctrinally oriented Christians lead lives that are morally distinct. Two years ago Ron Sider flagged this in his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?
Now a new book by Mark Regnerus called Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers gives the same bleak picture of so-called “evangelical teenagers” who sleep around as much as unbelievers. But again the book points out that “the 16% of American teenagers who say that their faith is ‘extremely important to their lives’ are living chastely” (Gene Veith, “Sex and the Evangelical Teen,” World, August 11, 2007, p. 9).
Some of you may remember what Sider said two years ago. But here it is again. The point is that what he said then has now been confirmed again by a totally separate survey. May the Lord use both these studies to encourage us that even though growing a church by serious teaching of biblical truth may be harder and slower, it does bear more radical fruit than less doctrinally serious strategies of growth.
Good Doctrine Makes Better (Teenage) Saints
August 15, 2007
By John Piper
Here it is again. More evidence from surveys what the Bible makes so plain: superficial, non-doctrinal, non-serious Christians sin pretty much like the world; but more serious, more doctrinally oriented Christians lead lives that are morally distinct. Two years ago Ron Sider flagged this in his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?
Now a new book by Mark Regnerus called Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers gives the same bleak picture of so-called “evangelical teenagers” who sleep around as much as unbelievers. But again the book points out that “the 16% of American teenagers who say that their faith is ‘extremely important to their lives’ are living chastely” (Gene Veith, “Sex and the Evangelical Teen,” World, August 11, 2007, p. 9).
Some of you may remember what Sider said two years ago. But here it is again. The point is that what he said then has now been confirmed again by a totally separate survey. May the Lord use both these studies to encourage us that even though growing a church by serious teaching of biblical truth may be harder and slower, it does bear more radical fruit than less doctrinally serious strategies of growth.
Here is what Sider says the more radically transformed Christians believe:
These people believe that “the Bible is the moral standard” and “absolute moral truths exist and are conveyed through the Bible.” In addition they agree with all six of the following additional beliefs: that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator who still rules the universe; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; Satan is a real, living entity; salvation is a free gift, not something we can earn; every Christian has a personal responsibility to evangelize; and the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches. (Scandal, p. 127)
These people believe that “the Bible is the moral standard” and “absolute moral truths exist and are conveyed through the Bible.” In addition they agree with all six of the following additional beliefs: that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator who still rules the universe; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; Satan is a real, living entity; salvation is a free gift, not something we can earn; every Christian has a personal responsibility to evangelize; and the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches. (Scandal, p. 127)
Then Sider lists the kinds of behaviors this more doctrinally rigorous group tend to show.
They are nine times more likely than all the others to avoid “adult-only” material on the Internet. They are four times more likely than other Christians to boycott objectionable companies and products and twice as likely to choose not to watch a movie specifically because of its bad content. They are three times more likely than other adults not to use tobacco products and twice as likely to volunteer time to help needy people. Forty-nine percent of all born-again Christians with a biblical worldview have volunteered more than an hour in the previous week to an organization serving the poor, whereas only 29 percent of born-again Christians without a biblical worldview and only 22 percent of non-born-again Christians had done so. (Scandal, p. 128)
Sider concludes with a word that pastors and youth leaders should hear with great seriousness—mainly because the Bible teaches it, but also because Regnerus’s new book points in the same direction. Here is Sider’s conclusion:
[The] findings on the different behavior of Christians with a biblical worldview underline the importance of theology. Biblical orthodoxy does matter. One important way to end the scandal of contemporary Christian behavior is to work and pray fervently for the growth of orthodox theological belief in our churches. (Scandal, pp. 129-130)
Yes. Pray for sure. And work our heinies off teaching and preaching and modeling the Truth. And resist an entertainment model for youth ministry. And cultivate a joyfully blood-earnest atmosphere for worship. And call for our youth and our retirees to go risk their lives somewhere for the risen King Jesus. This is where serious truth-driven ministry takes us.
Growing in the knowledge and grace of Jesus with you,
Pastor John
Monday, July 30, 2007
Legcay Letter
The start of a new school year seems to come faster and faster every year. As much as I hated to go back to school when I was growing up, the Summers seemed to last forever. They say the older you get, the faster time flies. I do not know about that, but the relative value of three months does decrease!
We are excited about back to school time this year because there are so many opportunities out there and we are working hard to take advantage of them by seeking out what God would have us do this Fall.
First, we are working with churches to try and schedule as many volunteer workshops as possible for the Fall semester. That means that we will be contacting many of our old friends to try and solidify dates as well as meeting many new guys and developing relationships with them.
Second, we are also planning our Lead ’07 Area-wide back-to-school events. Last year, we were able to hold Lead events from August until December. We are prayerful that we will be able to impact new churches and students thought these events this year.
Third, we are getting ready for our favorite and most successful support-raising event of the year, the Legacy Ministries Dove Shoot at Cedarcrest Farms in Faunsdale, Alabama. This will be our third year to do this event and it just gets bigger and better every year. We are looking for ward to being with some old friends and meeting many new one as we enjoy a day of good fellowship, good food and (Lord willing) a ton of birds.
Finally, we are always working on building partnerships with ministers, churches and ministries. There have been many interesting and exciting possibilities come our way this Summer and we are looking forward to seeing how God will use some of them to impact Legacy.
We are thankful to those of you who prayerfully and financially support us. The Summer months are always hard, but your faithfulness is a blessing to us and to the Kingdom of Christ through Legacy Ministries.
I am particularly thankful to those of you who prayed for Rayanne and baby Zachariah during their stays in the hospital. They are both healthy, home and happy. The Lord is exceedingly good!
We are excited about back to school time this year because there are so many opportunities out there and we are working hard to take advantage of them by seeking out what God would have us do this Fall.
First, we are working with churches to try and schedule as many volunteer workshops as possible for the Fall semester. That means that we will be contacting many of our old friends to try and solidify dates as well as meeting many new guys and developing relationships with them.
Second, we are also planning our Lead ’07 Area-wide back-to-school events. Last year, we were able to hold Lead events from August until December. We are prayerful that we will be able to impact new churches and students thought these events this year.
Third, we are getting ready for our favorite and most successful support-raising event of the year, the Legacy Ministries Dove Shoot at Cedarcrest Farms in Faunsdale, Alabama. This will be our third year to do this event and it just gets bigger and better every year. We are looking for ward to being with some old friends and meeting many new one as we enjoy a day of good fellowship, good food and (Lord willing) a ton of birds.
Finally, we are always working on building partnerships with ministers, churches and ministries. There have been many interesting and exciting possibilities come our way this Summer and we are looking forward to seeing how God will use some of them to impact Legacy.
We are thankful to those of you who prayerfully and financially support us. The Summer months are always hard, but your faithfulness is a blessing to us and to the Kingdom of Christ through Legacy Ministries.
I am particularly thankful to those of you who prayed for Rayanne and baby Zachariah during their stays in the hospital. They are both healthy, home and happy. The Lord is exceedingly good!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Who Am I?
Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
2 Samuel 7:18-22
Who am I?
In searching out the will of God and desiring to know God, it is important to stop and gain perspective by just counting your blessings. A thankful heart and a humble spirit are where God confirms what He has done, what He is doing, and what He is going to do.
Who am I that you have protected me? I have not been destroyed.
Who am I that you have provided for me? I have not been hungry or without shelter.
Who am I that you have cared for me? I have been warm in winter and coll in summer. I have been loved and have loved. I have been encouraged by parents and inspired by children.
Who am I?
I have been created in your image. I have been called by your name. I have been made new and if you stand with me, none can stand against me.
Who am I?
Where was I when you created the heavens and the earth? Where was I when you flung our the stars and called them by name?
Yet, you have a purpose and a plan for my life. There is the image of your Son that I am being conformed to, and from death to life I am being transformed. From glory unto glory, for you are magnificent in all the universe. Your mercy and grace are of great renown. Your justice is above all rule. You are Truth and are in every sense HOLY!
Who am I?
Monday, July 23, 2007
Is Anybody Listening?
Today is one of those days when I am tempted to write something outrageous, just to see if anyone responds.
I really do not know what it is I want to say. I am a person who gives his life away to lead and teach others. Not for my own beneift, but to help people move form where they are to where God wants them to be. I am comitted to helping other people fulfill their purpose and become what God has created and called them to be. Most of what I have found is that nobody cares.
It is sad, but I think that is the general attitude among most people. You offer to give yourself away to help others and they say, "don't bother." You try to help people change and become something great and they respond, "I do not want to change." Being special or extraordinary is out of style. People seem to desire the least common denominator.
I have beleived in a single principle all of my life: Life is not about how little you can get away with, but about how much you can do. It is not about how much you can get away with, but about what is the best that you can do.
In a world that says, "I want to live as close to the bottom as I can without feeling like a looser," I want to scream, "take hold of that for which you were created!" We really must stop settling for less than the best. We must stop accepting cheap imitations of purpose and delight and desire the greater things.
What is a little power but no control? What is pride that is shamefully gained? What is fame on the backs of others? What is fortune that is passing away? What are we doing? What difference are we making?
Though it is my greatest desire to make a difference, my pain is that I am making none.
I really do not know what it is I want to say. I am a person who gives his life away to lead and teach others. Not for my own beneift, but to help people move form where they are to where God wants them to be. I am comitted to helping other people fulfill their purpose and become what God has created and called them to be. Most of what I have found is that nobody cares.
It is sad, but I think that is the general attitude among most people. You offer to give yourself away to help others and they say, "don't bother." You try to help people change and become something great and they respond, "I do not want to change." Being special or extraordinary is out of style. People seem to desire the least common denominator.
I have beleived in a single principle all of my life: Life is not about how little you can get away with, but about how much you can do. It is not about how much you can get away with, but about what is the best that you can do.
In a world that says, "I want to live as close to the bottom as I can without feeling like a looser," I want to scream, "take hold of that for which you were created!" We really must stop settling for less than the best. We must stop accepting cheap imitations of purpose and delight and desire the greater things.
What is a little power but no control? What is pride that is shamefully gained? What is fame on the backs of others? What is fortune that is passing away? What are we doing? What difference are we making?
Though it is my greatest desire to make a difference, my pain is that I am making none.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The Kingdom of Christ
Today, I have just finished reading one of the most complicated and difficult to read books that I have read since I have been out of school. I has proven to be one of the most challenging and beneficial books I have ever read. The Kingdom of Christ, by my former classmate Russ Moore, is a great look at the history of evangelicalism, its growing consensus on Kingdom theology, its current challenges, and how that all plays into evangelical interaction in the public square. The book is challenging and informative for every believer in forming a consistent eschatology, soteriology, ecclesiology and sociopolitical engagement.
I have included the introduction below in order to give a better idea of what the book is about. Also, you can check out my reading list at the bottom of the page to see what else I have been reading this year.
From the very beginning of the contemporary evangelical movement, conservative Protestants have bickered and splintered over Kingdom questions. Is it future or present? Is it spiritual or material? Is it the church or the world— or neither or both? Is it to be found in evangelizing the lost or in reclaiming the culture? After a half-century of searching the Scriptures, however, a quiet consensus is emerging about the Kingdom of God—a consensus that offers possibilities for evangelical theology to correct some longstanding errors and missteps. To some degree, the Kingdom confusion among evangelicals was a byproduct of the theological health of the movement—it being protected from liberalism, after all, by the divergent streams of dispensationalism and covenant theology. Now, evangelicals have the opportunity to stop polarizing around the Kingdom question—marching off into partisan camps at war over the prophecy charts at the back of our Bibles.
This book takes a look at the Kingdom through the prism of evangelical political action, but that is not because the Kingdom is a tool to equip evangelicals for politics. It is not even because evangelical politics is all that important, in the larger scheme of things. Instead, it is because the failure of evangelical politics points us to something far more important that underlies it—the failure of evangelical theology. It was the capitulation to the political regime of Nazi Germany that convinced Karl Barth that "German Christianity" had forgotten Christ. In the same way, it was the "uneasy conscience " of a socially and politically disengaged fundamentalism that prompted theologian Carl Henry to question whether evangelicals had an adequate doctrine of the Kingdom of God. For Henry and his colleagues, the problem was not that fundamentalists were apolitical—the problem was why they were apolitical. Their isolationism sprung from competing and unbiblical views of the Kingdom of God—views that would compromise their witness at almost every other point. And so evangelical thought revealed the Kingdom crisis in evangelical theology. The same can be said of the theologically anemic (and often missiologically embarrassing) attempts at "Religious Right" and "Religious Left" activism since Henry's day. Could it be that evangelicals are seen as a political "constituency" because about all we have to offer the watching culture is politics? Could it be that the eclipse of Jesus in evangelical politics is a symptom of the eclipse of Jesus in evangelicalism itself?
This book calls evangelical Christians to shape our identity by our convictions about the Kingdorm of God in Christ. The new perspective on the Kingdom of God can define evangelical theology along the lines of the central themes of the Old and New Testament canon. In the end, a renewed focus on the Kingdom is essential if evangelicals are ever going to grapple with the evangel of a crucified, resurrected, and enthroned Messiah. As such, American evangelicalism ought to become both more and less political. Evangelical theology will not serve an activist agenda to be an identity caucus in someone's political party. But evangelical theology will remind Christians that the call to Christ is not a call to "go to heaven when you die," but instead a call to be "joint-heirs" (KJV) with the Messiah who will inherit an all-encompassing Kingdom. This means that the most important political reality of all is not the local voter precinct or the White House reception room, but the creaky pews of the local congregation. A renewed Kingdgm theology can remind evangelical churches that they are the rulers of the universe—but not yet (1 Cor. 6:3). This means that evangelicals can see the Kingdom of God as something more than the terminus point on the prophecy chart; something more than a crocheted sentiment hanging on the kitchen wall. It means that evangelicals can confront the Caesars of this age with a truth that once caused riots in the streets—there is "another king" (Acts 17:7). It means that we can remind ourselves that the only perspective on the Kingdom of Christ that matters ultimately is quite old. And that perspective has already been addressed over the waters of the Jordan and in the caverns of a garden tomb, and will be repeated once more before a watching cosmos: "Jesus is Lord" (Phil 2-9-11).
I have included the introduction below in order to give a better idea of what the book is about. Also, you can check out my reading list at the bottom of the page to see what else I have been reading this year.
Introduction
The title of this book is, in some ways, awfully misleading. After all, there really is no "new" evangelical perspective about the Kingdom of God. What is true about the Kingdom of Jesus was, in one sense, "new" only when it was announced on the shores of Galilee, whispered in the catacombs of Rome, and shouted in the marketplaces of Ephesus. The Kingdom concept is a mystery older than the creation itself—a mystery that points to God's cosmic purpose to sum up the entire cosmos under the rule of one human King. Jesus of Nazareth (Eph. 1:10). What is "new" is that many evangelicals have stopped arguing about the Kingdom of God—and have started seeking after it.From the very beginning of the contemporary evangelical movement, conservative Protestants have bickered and splintered over Kingdom questions. Is it future or present? Is it spiritual or material? Is it the church or the world— or neither or both? Is it to be found in evangelizing the lost or in reclaiming the culture? After a half-century of searching the Scriptures, however, a quiet consensus is emerging about the Kingdom of God—a consensus that offers possibilities for evangelical theology to correct some longstanding errors and missteps. To some degree, the Kingdom confusion among evangelicals was a byproduct of the theological health of the movement—it being protected from liberalism, after all, by the divergent streams of dispensationalism and covenant theology. Now, evangelicals have the opportunity to stop polarizing around the Kingdom question—marching off into partisan camps at war over the prophecy charts at the back of our Bibles.
This book takes a look at the Kingdom through the prism of evangelical political action, but that is not because the Kingdom is a tool to equip evangelicals for politics. It is not even because evangelical politics is all that important, in the larger scheme of things. Instead, it is because the failure of evangelical politics points us to something far more important that underlies it—the failure of evangelical theology. It was the capitulation to the political regime of Nazi Germany that convinced Karl Barth that "German Christianity" had forgotten Christ. In the same way, it was the "uneasy conscience " of a socially and politically disengaged fundamentalism that prompted theologian Carl Henry to question whether evangelicals had an adequate doctrine of the Kingdom of God. For Henry and his colleagues, the problem was not that fundamentalists were apolitical—the problem was why they were apolitical. Their isolationism sprung from competing and unbiblical views of the Kingdom of God—views that would compromise their witness at almost every other point. And so evangelical thought revealed the Kingdom crisis in evangelical theology. The same can be said of the theologically anemic (and often missiologically embarrassing) attempts at "Religious Right" and "Religious Left" activism since Henry's day. Could it be that evangelicals are seen as a political "constituency" because about all we have to offer the watching culture is politics? Could it be that the eclipse of Jesus in evangelical politics is a symptom of the eclipse of Jesus in evangelicalism itself?
This book calls evangelical Christians to shape our identity by our convictions about the Kingdorm of God in Christ. The new perspective on the Kingdom of God can define evangelical theology along the lines of the central themes of the Old and New Testament canon. In the end, a renewed focus on the Kingdom is essential if evangelicals are ever going to grapple with the evangel of a crucified, resurrected, and enthroned Messiah. As such, American evangelicalism ought to become both more and less political. Evangelical theology will not serve an activist agenda to be an identity caucus in someone's political party. But evangelical theology will remind Christians that the call to Christ is not a call to "go to heaven when you die," but instead a call to be "joint-heirs" (KJV) with the Messiah who will inherit an all-encompassing Kingdom. This means that the most important political reality of all is not the local voter precinct or the White House reception room, but the creaky pews of the local congregation. A renewed Kingdgm theology can remind evangelical churches that they are the rulers of the universe—but not yet (1 Cor. 6:3). This means that evangelicals can see the Kingdom of God as something more than the terminus point on the prophecy chart; something more than a crocheted sentiment hanging on the kitchen wall. It means that evangelicals can confront the Caesars of this age with a truth that once caused riots in the streets—there is "another king" (Acts 17:7). It means that we can remind ourselves that the only perspective on the Kingdom of Christ that matters ultimately is quite old. And that perspective has already been addressed over the waters of the Jordan and in the caverns of a garden tomb, and will be repeated once more before a watching cosmos: "Jesus is Lord" (Phil 2-9-11).
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Camp Baldwin Pictures
Here are some pictures from last week at Camp Baldwin.
One of our mission teams leading a Day Camp on the Beach!
MissionTeam leads Bible Story time!
CAMP FOOD!
Redheads - fake a smile while plotting camp pranks!
Josh Hilliker leads worship for teaching sessions.
"Sharky, Sharky"
WATERSLIDE ACTION!
GOD MOVED AND WORKED IN A MIGHTY WAY IN THE LIVES OF MANY OF THE STUDENTS. There was a visible change in some of the students during the course of the week and God sent back to their respective churches focused, motivated and equipped leaders. 
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Zachariah Stephen Ward
I just thought we were having crazy days! As you can see, I have not posted since June 19 because we left in a rush for the hospital that night about 11:30 pm. Baby Zachariah was born at 2:11 the following morning and he weighed 4 lbs. 7 oz. and was 18 inches long. The baby is still in the hospital in Montgomery, but he is doing well.
Rayanne had a tough night but was able to go home that Saturday. The doctors want Zacharaiah to gain a little weight before they send him home, but we are going to lobby for him to come home on Tuesday.
Please be in prayer for us as we travel back and forth, for our other children who want desperately for things to be "normal again," and for the baby.
Thank you all for your parayers and concern.
Thank God for His timing and the precious gift of life!
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