The Calf Path

I came across this poem in a book I just started reading called, Pagan Christianity? Exploring The Roots Of Our Church Practices by George Barna & Frank Viola.

LORD, show us what You want Your Church to look like. ~Jon


The Calf Path, by Sam Walter Foss

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bell-wether sheep
Pursued the trail o'er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bell-wethers always do.
And from that day, o'er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made.

And many men wound in and out,
And dodged, and turned, and bent about
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because 'twas such a crooked path.
But still they followed--do not laugh--
The first migrations of that calf,
And through this winding wood-way stalked,
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane,
That bent, and turned, and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.
And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The road became a village street;
And this, before men were aware,
A city's crowded thoroughfare;
And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed the zigzag calf about;
And o'er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They followed still his crooked way,
And lost one hundred years a day;
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach,
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,

And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,

And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.
They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move.
But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf!
Ah! Many things this tale might teach--
But I am not ordained to preach.

God's Sovereignty, Paul's Conversion (Piper)

This was posted on the Desiring God blog today...a great word. ~Jon

God's Sovereignty, Paul's Conversion
March 10, 2008 By: John Piper Category: Commentary

Ponder the conversion of Paul, the sovereignty of Christ, and what Paul's sins have to do with your salvation.

Paul said that God “set me apart before I was born,” and then on the Damascus road “called me by his grace” (Galatians 1:15). This means that between Paul’s birth and his call on the Damascus road he was an already-chosen but not-yet-called instrument of God (Acts 9:15; 22:14).

This means that Paul was beating and imprisoning and murdering Christians as a God-chosen, soon-to-be-made-Christian missionary.

Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him. (Acts 22:19-20)

The call on the Damascus road was apocalyptic for Paul. It was not a still small voice.
As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 22:6-7)

There was no denying or escaping it. God had chosen him for this before he was born. And now he would take him. The word of Christ was sovereign. There was no negotiating.
Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do. (Acts 22:10)

This kind of sovereign choice before he was born, and this kind of apocalyptic call on the Damascus road mean that God could have prevented Paul from beating and imprisoning and murdering Christians. He could have called him earlier.

Damascus was not Paul’s final, free will yielding to Christ after decades of futile divine effort to save him. God had a time for choosing him (before he was born) and a time for calling him (on the Damascus road). Paul yielded when God called.

Therefore the sins that God permitted between Paul’s birth and his calling were part of the plan, since God could have done Damascus sooner.

Do we have any idea what the plan for those sins might have been? Yes. They were permitted for you and me—for all who fear that they might have sinned themselves out of grace. Here’s the way Paul relates his sins to you.

Formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy . . . for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:13, 16)

O how sweet are the designs of God in the sovereign salvation of hardened sinners!

Real Worship

A new book that I had ordered came in yesterday called Vintage Jesus, Timeless Answers to Timely Questions, by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears. I have heard a couple of messages by Mark Driscoll and I like him. He is pretty radical in his delivery, but what I have heard, I have benefited from (please don't take this as a blanket endorsement). Also, John Piper had him speak a couple of years ago at the Desiring God Pastor's Conference and Piper spoke at Mark's conference a few weeks ago...so any friend of Piper's is a friend of mine. :) Anyway, back to my new book...I started reading a chapter entitled "Why Should We Worship Jesus?" this morning and the following story struck me in a powerful way.

"A downside to being a pastor is that you never get to attend pro football games on Sundays. While I thank God for TiVo, I do long to attend the occasional game to join other lazy people in complaining about the performance of highly trained athletes.

God answered my prayers when our hometown Seahawks were playing a Monday-night game, and someone in the church had an extra ticket, which made me as happy as a redneck getting a ticket to a motorcycles-on-ice show. As a hometown homey I was thrilled because our team won. As a Christian I found it to be an intriguing example of worship.

As I sat among nearly seventy thousand fans, I wondered what the impression of Old Testament Hebrew worshipers would be if they could have been teleported to the game. My guess is that they would have assumed they were at the worship service of an enormous cult.

While zoning laws in our city essentially forbid us from building a large church, the football stadium was built at a cost of 450 million dollars (with roughly 300 million dollars of that money coming from public monies such as taxes). Every ticket for the entire season is expensive yet sold out. Our seats at the game I attended were in what Paul calls the 'third heaven' and cost about forty dollars each. In addition, parking, a hot dog, and a beer cost about the same as a year's tuition at a state college. The help of a Sherpa was required to haul it all to the high altitude where the seats were.

People walked many blocks in a driving rain that was so Old Testament that parts of the city were flooded, rivers had spilled over their banks, and mudslides were leading the nightly newscasts. Nonetheless, seemingly every seat in the stadium was filled, and fans stood in the rain for the entire game--not even using the seat they paid for--wearing the team colors and screaming, while music blared through the sound system and half-naked young women provided the eye candy.

In short, I was at a worship service with a congregation that was larger, more devoted, more generous, and more vocal than any church in America.

As I enjoyed the game I was reminded of words spoken to me some years before. A dear friend of mine is a pastor who also runs an orphanage and a Bible college in India. He converted to Christianity after being raised Hindu. We have spent a considerable amount of time together over the years in both the United States and India.

When I was in India, the false worship that permeated the culture was disturbingly obvious to me. As I walked through the villages I continually came upon small shrines alongside the road dedicated to various local gods. Inside the small huts were food gifts along with blood from various animal sacrifices. As we drove near the beach I also saw large crowds of Hindus with their faces painted, undergoing ceremonial washings in the sea, seeking to appease their angry gods. There were ongoing feasts and festivals throughout the villages that included loud music and cheering, along with excessive alcohol and food consumption. It seemed that people spent much of their time and money in worship to idols and demons, which was heartbreaking.

Some days later I was teaching church-planting pastors from local villages who were an incredible encouragement. In a private discussion with one pastor's wife, I asked her if she had ever been to the United States. She replied that she had been once but had been deeply troubled by all the idolatrous worship she witnessed in the United States. At first, I was stunned that she would accuse my culture of being idolatrous, but as I sat at the Monday-night football game, it became apparent to me that sometimes we see only the errors of worship in someone else's culture while neglecting to be as objective in our own culture. I too was surrounded by people no less religiously zealous who had painted their faces to gather together and cheer on their gods who happened to play quarterback, tailback, and such, while wearing replica jerseys in tribute and giving one another high-fives in celebration whenever one of their gods made a great play." (Vintage Jesus, pg 163-165)

I don't believe that the take-away here is to try to make our worship services look like a football game. Neither do I take it as a condemnation of enjoying sports. I believe what it illustrates for us is that worship is a lifestyle, not an event, even though we should regularly worship at corporate gatherings alongside other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25). But it is a delight, not a duty. It is an expression of love. The folks at the stadium don't mind forking out their cash or using large amounts of their time thinking about and planning for a big game, so why do we not choose to live a lifestyle of worshiping and enjoying the Creator and Redeemer of our lives? Take a look with me at another stadium of worship and enjoy the One worshiped there with me.

"Then I looked, and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures, and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. They said with a loud voice: The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!

I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and everything in them say: Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!

The four living creatures said, 'Amen,' and the elders fell down and worshiped." (Revelation 5:11-14, HCSB)

Falling down before Him,
Jon

Be Strengthened By Grace (Piper)

I am currently listening to this in my car and it is encouraging my socks off! Be Strengthened...~Jon

Be Strengthened By Grace
Listen Download Podcast
Download: Audio
By John Piper September 21, 1997

Hebrews 13:7-16
Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. 15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. 16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

The Lord Is My Helper, I Will not Be Afraid
Last week we saw from the first paragraph of this chapter that we should love each other and show hospitality and care for prisoners and keep our marriage vows and avoid the love of money - and do all of this not by our own strength or ingenuity but by the power of the promise of God in verses 5-6: "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," so that we confidently say, "The lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?"
In other words, if you really believe this promise, if you believe it is true, and your heart is satisfied with the God who promises to be there for you and help you, then you will not crave money, you will keep your marriage vows, you care for prisoners, welcome strangers and love each other. Faith in the promises of God is the power to live a radical, normal Christian life.
It takes strength. It takes strength to love. It takes strength to risk yourself with strangers. It takes strength to take the suffering of prisoners into your life, when you may have enough of your own. It takes strength to keep your marriage vows when the going gets rough and it is not the way you dreamed it would be. It takes strength to turn away from the promises of money. And that strength is what today's text is about. Where to get it and how to keep it. And the answers are not new, just newly stated.

Is Your Heart Strong?
Look at verse 9: "Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited."
I ask you: is your heart strong? I don't mean your physical heart. I think the writer means here the non-physical, non-material you. The thinking, feeling, willing, hoping, fearing, trusting, longing, raging, grieving, rejoicing you. The inner you - what Paul meant when he prayed in Ephesians 3:16 that you would be strengthened in the "inner person." Are you strong? It has nothing to do with your muscles or your pulse or your measurements or your cholesterol or your white blood count or your PSA or your electrocardiogram. Are you strong - the inner you?
Do you want to be? Verse 9 says, "It is good for the heart to be strengthened." This is good. Therefore it is something we should want. It is something you should, right now as I am preaching, desire and seek. The strength of heart to be the kind of person described in verses 1-5. Not the power to put on a show. To clean the outside of the cup and leave the inside weak and dirty. But strength of heart. Strength that is real enough on the inside that it shapes the outside naturally. Do you want that? I do. Let's look to God now in his word to work it in us.
Strengthened by Grace, not by Foods
Verse 9 tells us in a word where to turn for strength of heart and where not to turn. Turn to grace and do not turn to foods. "Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited." Evidently in that church there were some strange teachings circulating about the power of foods. It's good that we don't know the details. It causes us to ponder our own situation.
There are today many religious and secular food routines. Religious food routines like fasting and sacramentalism and vegetarianism and various kinds of abstinence. And there are the secular routines of food supplements and vitamins and antioxidants and organic diets, and fat-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free, chemical-free foods. And sometimes, not all the time, these things become obsessive. They take on a life-consuming importance. Slowly and subtly the promises they make for our well-being become the promises we hope in and the promises we live by.
But over against this misuse of foods, God says (in verse 9), "It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods." So beware of "alien teachings" that elevate diet and nutrition and food to a place where they are the real strength-givers and health-givers and hope-givers in your life. And instead learn to have your heart strengthened by grace - day after day, morning noon and night.

How Do You Eat Grace?
How do you do that? If you don't eat food to strengthen your heart, how do you eat grace? If you wake up in the morning and feel guilty and defiled because of something ugly you did yesterday, or you feel like a failure because of how poorly something went yesterday, what do you do? The "strange teaching" might say, "Eat a good breakfast. Get the right nutrition pumping through your blood. Do some exercise and get out into the sunlight." But God says, "Get your heart strengthened by grace. On a morning like that, eat grace for breakfast."
How? Well, consider verse 10. Picking up on this issue of being strengthened by grace and not foods, he says, "We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat." He's referring to the priests in Jerusalem who have rejected Jesus as their Messiah, but who go on "serving the tabernacle" which was meant to point to Jesus as the final sacrifice and the cross of Jesus as the final altar of sacrifice (Hebrews 9:26; 10:12). So the altar he has in mind is the cross where our final sacrifice was offered once for all for our sins. There is where our food is found. There is the table where grace was prepared.
If you want to know where your breakfast of grace was prepared, the answer is (verse 10): We have an altar - the breakfast of grace was prepared on the altar of the cross where Jesus died for our sins. If you want to be strong in your heart, when your heart is groaning with a sense of sin and failure, before you go to the kitchen to eat food, go to the altar to eat the blood-bought grace of forgiveness and hope.

Eating Forgiveness and Hope
Keep reading in verse 11. He explains that on the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16, after the blood of the sacrificed bull and goat is taken into the holy of holies, and sprinkled there to cover the sins of the people, the bodies of the bull and the goat are taken outside the camp and burned (Leviticus 16:27). "For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp." The point he is making is that these sacrifices are not eaten, as with some other sacrifices. The nourishment the people received on the Day of Atonement was forgiveness and hope, not meat.
Yes, but all of that was meant to point to Jesus, the final sacrifice for sin. There was a lesson in that. The writer draws out the comparison in verse 12: "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate." In other words, Jesus has fulfilled the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement; they are completed in him; they find their final meaning in him. And the meaning is: All there was to eat on the Day of Atonement was forgiveness and hope. That's all there is to eat from the altar of Calvary where the body of Jesus was consumed with suffering.
So the point is: When you feel like a failure, when you feel discouraged and hopeless and dirty, don't turn to food. It's an alien remedy, and verse 9 says, it has not benefited those who walk in it. It only makes things worse. Instead go to the altar of grace. We have an altar. And there is food. And the food is grace - the grace of forgiveness and the grace of hope. The only way to be strong is to come back to this table again and again.

Feasting at the Altar of Grace
I speak from some years of personal experience in these things; there are many mornings when feasting at the altar of grace is only way I survive. Sometimes the breakfast of grace has to replace the breakfast of foods. When you are a leader, the heart must be strong. People turn to you for help; they need answers to hard questions; and comfort in the midst of grief; and guidance in perplexing decisions; and hope in the midst of discouragement; and an ear for their disappointments or even their anger; and a vision of God in the midst of darkness. The heart of a leader must be strong.
And so must yours. You are all ministers. And the glory of Christianity is that we have an altar - we have an old rugged cross. And there the Savior, Jesus Christ, serves inexhaustible helpings of grace. Do you want your heart to be strong? Do you want to be a strong person who has the resources to love each other, and take in strangers, and care for prisoners, and stay married or single and chaste, and not love money? Then stay close to the altar and eat and eat and eat again - the grace of God.
The only strength that really matters in life is the strength of heart that comes from feeding on grace and trusting in grace. All the way through life, it is not health and physical strength that God delights in. The Lord takes pleasure in those who hope in his grace (Psalm 147:11). And when we come to die, no food and no diet will matter at all. One thing will matter: are we nourished at the altar of grace?

Another Help to Faith - Remembering Those Who Loved and Led Us
Now there is more help for us. Not only does this writer tell us where grace is prepared, namely at the altar of the cross, he also tell us how to keep faith in grace stirred up. He says in verse 7: "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." This writer really believed in the importance of heroes and models and biography (see chapter 11).
Not only should we remember that we have an altar where we can find grace every day, but we should also remember people who trusted that grace and loved and spoke to us the word of God. Remember them, verse 7 says. Know some history - perhaps just your parents lives, or your grandparents, or a pastor or a missionary. Or, even better know these familiar ones, and then go to the wonderful biographies that tell the stories of those who were leaders in the church and who spoke the word of God.
Some of you may wonder why for eleven years at our pastors' conference I have given biographical lectures on people in church history - Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Brainerd, Spurgeon, Machen, Lloyd-Jones, etc. It's not just because they're interesting. It's because God said, "Remember those who led you and spoke the word of God to you."
Specifically God says (in verse 7), look at the result or outcome of their conduct. What does that mean? It's not just: Look at their conduct. It's: Look at the outcome, literally, the exit of their way of life. I think it means: Look at the whole course of their life, especially the end of it. How did they run? Did they hold fast till the end? Did they finish well? Did they do what this whole letter of Hebrews is written to help us do - persevere to the end and be saved?
This is why dead heroes are more important than living heroes. Living heroes are important, but they might cease to be heroes before they die. They might let you down. Rather, he says, "remember" - that's a word that reaches into the past. Remember those whose conduct you can survey from beginning to end, and consider all of it - especially how it ended.

Imitate Their Faith
Why? Why this focus on human leaders who knew and spoke the word of God? Was it so that you could copy their conduct? That's not what the writer says. He says the reason is so that you will imitate their faith. Verse 7: "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith."
Not their conduct. If you try to imitate their conduct, you become a religious fake, a spiritual counterfeit. This is a frightening reality when you see it - people who have learned the forms of godliness and know nothing of the power that comes from genuine faith. Instead he says: look at the whole course of their conduct and how they finished their course, and get the same motor that made them what they were: their faith.
In what? The next verse says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Do you see the sequence of his thought? In verse 7 he says "Remember leaders who in the past had faith, and now in the present you imitate that very faith." Then in verse 8: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Do you see the point?

Jesus is the Same Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
They trusted Jesus in the past. Now you, today and tomorrow, go on trusting Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is the same today when you trust him and he will be the same tomorrow when you trust him.
But do you see what this implies about grace and how it strengthens the heart? Something new is implied here that we didn't see in verses 9-10. If Jesus were only important for what he did on the cross then it wouldn't matter if he were the same today and tomorrow. All that would matter is that the past work on the altar of the cross is still valid. Does the blood still buy my forgiveness? But if Jesus is important not only because he died once to forgive my sins, but also lives to be with me and help me in the next two minutes and this afternoon and tomorrow, then everything hangs on whether the Jesus alive today is the same as he was when he died for me on the altar.
And that is exactly what we saw he promised to be last week: I will never leave you or forsake you (verse 5). The faith we are to imitate is faith in future grace, not just past grace. Faith that the living Jesus who helped yesterday will help today and tomorrow.
Grace of Forgiveness and of Promised Help
When I wake up in the morning and feel guilty and defiled because of yesterday's ugliness, and hopeless because of yesterday's failure, my heart needs to be strengthened by two kinds of grace, not just one. I need the grace of forgiveness based on a great past substitutionary sacrifice on the cross, that covers all my sins. O, how precious! And I need the grace of promised help from Jesus today and tomorrow.
If I can have forgiveness, and if I can have the promise of omnipotent help from Jesus who is the same yesterday today and forever, my heart will be strong, and I will be able to carry on another day. Such is the glory of grace in the Christian life.
If you do not enjoy the forgiveness of your sins or have hope that Jesus will give you all the help you need today and tomorrow, then I invite you to turn from foods that cannot satisfy or help, and put your trust in the grace of Jesus.

© Desiring God
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God.
Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Under The Blood

Suzanne and I have had a couple of conversations recently about being "under the blood." She had been challenged with this idea recently by a respected friend. Her friend was saying that we should take our place "under the blood" and place our struggles there and walk in victory. I agree. But have you ever used a phrase like this and just wondered if you really had a clue what it meant? That's where we found ourselves.



As we talked about this, Revelation 12:10-11 came to mind.

"And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of the brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." (ESV)



I believe this is how we overcome the enemy, and I pray this over my family every night. I plead the blood of Jesus and say, "Jesus is LORD." But I still don't think I understand all that it includes. I know that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross satisfies the wrath of God toward sin and I know that "He was wounded for our transgressions...crushed for our iniquities...(and) upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5 ESV) But I believe there is even more.

In the book of Exodus, when God delivers the people of Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh in Egypt, He tells them to kill a lamb. Then He tells them to take hyssop and dip it into the blood of that lamb and apply the blood on the top and sides of their door frames. Then, as Moses explains why, this is what he says.

"For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you." (Exodus 12:23 ESV)

When I heard that, I thought, "WOW! That's what I am praying when I plead the blood of Jesus and say Jesus is LORD. I am applying Jesus' blood to the spiritual door of my family and claiming this promise that the destroyer will not be allowed to enter! I am overcoming him 'by the blood of the Lamb and word of my testimony!!'" We have entered into the covenant promises God made with His people way back there through the perfect Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ and we can be sure that He will protect what He has purchased with that blood.

Pleading Jesus' blood,

Jon

A God Centered Church

Here we are, January of 2008 and I am being amazed at how God is speaking. I am reading one book in particular that is resounding in my heart with every page. It is called "A God Centered Church" by Henry and Mel Blackaby. I believe that God is in the process of teaching us what His church is to look like as we are moving toward the future and I am learning a lot from this book in particular. Here are a few quotes to hopefully whet your appetite and encourage you to go out and buy this book and read it for such a time as this. ~Jon


"Jesus established the church as a divine institution for the proclamation and extension of the kingdom. The church is not need-centered or people-centered but God-centered. When a church is God centered, they will know His awesome presence. When God grants His presence to a church, He expresses His wisdom, His power, and His activity to accomplish His purposes." (pg xii-xiii of the introduction)

"Our problem is that we are capable of running a religious organization, and we have learned to do it well. But too often our standard for evaluating the success of our church is to observe how large it has become. Church growth is not the biblical standard to evaluate the health of a church. A church can grow through effective marketing, but Christ may not have anything to do with it. Jesus said, 'I will build my church.' Yet we run around to church growth conferences to discover how we can build a successful church. Most conferences do not tell us how to recognize the activity of Jesus as He builds His church. Jesus, in this passage, gave two criteria: (1) the gates of hell will be coming down, and (2) we will be using the keys to the kingdom of heaven to free people from the bondage of sin and bring them into the presence of God." (pg 16)

Jesus' "...strategy of evangelism is the interdependence of each member related to the body and following Christ as the Head." (pg 17)

Speaking about the church in Acts 2, it says, "The striking characteristic of this moment was that they could not get enough fellowship. They loved to be together, for they experienced God together....They met daily and grew to have one mind and heart. The fellowship went from the temple to the homes and into the streets. Their relationship with one another was an essential part of God's plan. As they gave God the glory, He continued to add to their number day after day. That was the result of an encounter with God; that was the result of God's great salvation.

Whereas sin leads to independence and self centeredness, salvation leads to radical interdependence and Christ-centeredness. The sign of a healthy Christian, who has been set free from sin, is interdependence with other believers and commitment to function within the body of Christ." (pg 19)

"Over the last few decades, the focus has shifted away from God's people to evangelism and the lost. However, significant evangelism is a by-product of what God does with His people. If we bypass the people of God, we have shut down evangelism. But when we help the people of God know who they are in Christ and what God purposed for their lives through salvation, the world will be turned upside down." (pg 21)

"Merry" Christmas

As I write, Suzanne and the boys are all fast asleep after a great Christmas day. We opened presents this morning, had a delectable breakfast (breakfast casserole, waffles, and oranges), and generally enjoyed being together as a family. Every year we do our best to keep the celebration of Jesus' birthday the main point of this holiday season, but this year I think God is trying to teach me why.

Here's where He has me. What is it about Christmas that makes it merry? Family? Friends? Gifts? Food? Traditions? Decorations? Toys? Santa? Rudolph? Manger scenes? Christmas Pageants? Although, all of these are wonderful, they are not what makes Christmas merry. They are results of the ultimate cause of merriment. I think the old carol reveals the answer to my question.

O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.

Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels.

O come let us adore Him!

O come let us adore Him!

O come let us adore Him!

Christ The LORD!

Jesus is really what makes Christmas merry. I know that sounds cheesy, but don't stop reading. It's not a trite thing, this "adoring" Him. It is the reason you were born and it can be the most satisfying experience of your life to learn to love Him. Not just go to church. Not just be good and keep the ten commandments. Not just live by the golden rule. I mean love Him! This may sound a bit mystical to you...well it is.

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth." -John 4:24 (ESV)

You see, God is well aware that our desire for satisfaction drives almost every decision we make. He is also aware that He, Himself, is the most satisfying thing in the universe. So God commands us throughout His word to glorify God. I know, it sounds self-centered and egotistical of God to continually demand that we give Him glory, but it is the most loving act possible. Here's why. He is also aware that nothing else will satisfy us like Him.

NOTHING!

I stand on a platform in a bible believing church week in and week out and lead worship, and when I look in people's faces, I honestly wonder if God's people will ever really get this. There are obviously exceptions, but as a whole, I don't think we do. We read commands like "Rejoice in the LORD always" (Philippians 4:4), or "O taste and see that the LORD is good!" (Psalm 34:8) and we obviously make them mean something other than what they say, or maybe we just don't think they carry the same weight as "do not lie" or "do not steal your neighbors wife!" If we get a taste of Him, we will rejoice!

Question: Do we really love God? Think about it, if you rejoiced in your spouse like you rejoice in God, would he/she be confident in your love? I realize this is not a typical warm and fuzzy Christmas message, but God is calling us out. He is reminding us that even when He came as a baby, the response of those who "got it" was rejoicing (Luke 1:44, 46-47; 2:10, 20, Matthew 2:10).

Now here is where the excuses will begin. Jon, I am just not an emotional person. Jon, I just don't feel comfortable with external demonstrations of emotion. Jon, I am more of a thinker than a feeler. Jon, I don't want to be fanatical or anything...Well...God made you. He understands how you are wired. He knows your heart. I must say, though, even in my limited experience with people, I have never met anyone (that I remember) who didn't get excited about something in their lives. It might be a sports team or it might be their grandchildren or children. It might be food or it might be movies. It might be reading or it might be music. I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Here's the bottom line. Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment." -Matthew 22:37-38 (ESV)

What would obedience to this command look like in your life? When we begin to understand and embrace this radical idea of loving God, it will change us forever. Life will become an adventure for us, and God will use us to change the world.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

~Jon