Close Call

My mom has not been doing well this Christmas. She took a fall on Friday the 23rd and she hasn't walked since. Pat has ministered to her and I've been much less useful. The hospice care workers have stepped up their visits but we probably have days to weeks now rather than months. It is a time in which mortality and the importance of not wasting my life has been pretty clearly before me.

Vultures are often thought of as a symbol of death in our culture. Once I was riding to Albany and when I rounded a bend on a back road I noticed some movement on the side of the road. As I approached I saw a flock of vultures on a dead animal. The vultures really didn't have much time to get into the air as I was coming up and then I noticed that the trees were hanging over the side of the road. So the birds had to use the road to take off. They wanted my lane and I started moving farther and farther into the other lane. Pretty soon it was apparent they wanted both lanes for their little runway and we had a problem. It did flash through my mind that being killed by running into a vulture would be a pretty unfortunate way to go into heaven. I've got friends who would never (literally) let me forget that. Even worse, if it didn't kill me I would probably smell so bad I would wish I was dead. I picked what looked like the best path through the flock and then as I approached the ugly end of a really ugly bird I ducked. Suddenly I was through and I looked in the rear view mirror. The vulture was sitting in the middle of the road. I had sucked the air right out from under him and smacked him down in the road.

We naturally draw back from death. It isn't any more attractive than a vultures rear end. But remember 1 Corinthians 15:53-58

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

We may find ourselves suddenly before God someday or God may require great courage in our last days but in either case we will see death in the rear view mirror sitting helpless in the middle of the road.

Have a great New Years and I hope to see you on Sunday.

DWYL Chapter 2

Here are the questions for your consideration while studying Chapter 2 of Don't Waste Your Life.
The first comment for this post has the detailed notes for the Chapter Study.

• Why is objective meaning, and specifically the objective meaning of the Bible, so important?
• In the previous chapter (see p.13) Piper asked, “What is the meaning of life? How do I live my life well?” He came to the conviction in his early years that there is an objective answer to this question. What is the answer he discovers in this chapter? What two things seem to be in tension yet are solved with this discovery.
• Explain how Jesus is both the means to our joy and is himself our very joy.
• What is Piper’s definition of love (pp.33-35)? Why does Piper spend time explaining and defining biblical love in contrast to a modern conception of love?
• In light of the first two chapters, how does Piper answer the question, “How do I not waste my life?” Try to synthesize the numerous places where Piper explicitly talks about the wasted and not wasted life.

Merry Christmas

Jesus' life has so many facets that repeat the truths that God wants us to see. God knows how much repetition helps us learn. I was thinking a few years ago about Jesus' birth. I was also then thinking, for some reason, about the sacraments. We have two. Baptism and the Lord's Supper have been given to the Church by God to reinforce the truths of the Gospel.

When a person is born again they then seek baptism to testify of their rebirth into new life. Jesus was born into this world so that we could be born into the Kingdom of Heaven. His birth foreshadowed our new birth to move from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.

The other odd thing was the use of a manger for a place to lay Jesus. Having worked around farm animals I'm sure that Mary would have had to deal with curious sheep, goats, and cattle if they were still in the stable. Animals learn pretty quickly to keep a watch on the spot where their food is placed. I've seen my beagle run from the far end of the house because something hit her bowl and made that special little noise she loves to hear. Jesus was placed in the feed bunk. He was put where the food for the sheep goes on the day He was
born. There was a picture of Communion on the day of His birth.

I hope you were able to attend the vesper service on Christmas Eve. Communion is such an appropriate way to celebrate Christ's birth. It is wonderful to remember His place in the manger by celebrating His sacrifice. He said, "Take eat" of His body and "Drink of it" of His blood for our nourishment and to testify of our covenant with Him.

God, who knows the end from the beginning, pictured the end from Jesus' birth. The sacraments He was going to give to the Bride of Christ were hinted at there at the stable in Bethlehem. Don't forget where your nourishment comes from. He is the vine and you are the branches. Apart from Him you can do nothing and nothing is not a little something.

Telling the Truth

This week the update from Life Action Revival dealt with honesty. They stressed the need to be honest with God and with others. Isn't it odd that we have a tendancy to try to spin our behavior before God? He knows our hearts better than we do so honesty is certainly the best policy. We weren't the first to try to spin our behaviour. Remember Adam's response to God after the fall? He said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate. (ESV)." Adam trys to spin it so that he can blame the woman first, then blame God's for giving her to him, then at last he admits that he ate it but who could blame him?

When we follow that path of being dishonest with God we buy into the lie ourselves. Once I was studying Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." I was wondering what good being poor in spirit would do. Why would that be a key to the kingdom? I did a word study on "poor in spirit" and came to understand that it was a reference to those who ask and know they are needy. God was saying, "blessed are those who know their need and keep on asking for they will receive the kingdom of heaven"

Life Action Revival made the point that we can become like the Laodician church (rich and increased with goods, and in need of nothing). Of course they were naked, poor, and blind. The best way to keep honest about our need is to keep our vision of God fresh. I pray that God will use our current study of "Don't Waste Your Life" to keep this knowledge of your need awake in your lives.

New Mascot

Special thanks to Chuck for providing our new class mascot. I was thinking of Psalm 42:1 and Lewis wondered during class about the possible significance of the obvious mortality of our mascot. I really hadn't noticed that verse 2 of the same chapter seems to apply to the question of mortality. In verse 2 the psalmist asks, "When shall I come and appear before God?"

Thanks to everyone for a great discussion on Sunday. I think the contrasts raised are important in seeing the truth that God wants to work into our lives. As Bud was stressing, God is able to use our backgrounds so that our life will not be wasted. God always has a path for us. Some paths are pretty short. Piper's example of the gentleman saved late in life is one example of a short path and so it the thief on the Cross with Jesus. God has used both of these men as examples to us. They are negative examples that God uses to encourage us to run our race with patience. If we have wasted time and resources we should not feel despair but we may feel an appropriate sorrow for lost opportunities in our lives. Despair is without hope of restoration. Despair is stuck in defeat. Godly sorrow leads to repentance. God is able to use us from our point of repentance. As the Apostle Paul stressed, we can't view God's Mercy and Grace as license to sin or be slack in our pursuit of God (Romans 6:1-14). We need to center our lives on that passionate pursuit of our Savior. I pray that God's Holy Spirit would awaken a thirst in us the manifests Psalm 41:1 in our lives. You have been brought from death to life. All your skills and all your life are to be yielded to God as instruments in His hands for righteousness.

DWYL Chapter 1

My Search for a Single Passion to Live By

• What is the difference being highlighted between the “Nowhere Man” lyrics and the “Blowin’ in the Wind” lyrics (pp.15-17)?

• Why does Piper include his experience with these songs and other events in his early life?

• What is the question that Piper formed early on about life? How would you ask this question in your own words?

• What is the main point of the quote from C.S. Lewis on p.20? How does this relate to the questions Piper asks on the middle of p. 13?

• From John Lennon to C.S. Lewis, what is Piper arguing to be an essential and foundational step in not wasting your life? And how does this understanding affect your seeking after a life well lived?

Notes - Piper Video

Piper – Don’t Waste Your Life

Message delivered near end of 2003 after several disasters. When reflecting on the loss of life we question why something like that should happen.

Luke 13:2-5
And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” ESV

Our wonderment shouldn’t be at others have perished but rather that we haven’t been snuffed out from our sins.

Our lives are in God’s hands. We hang by a slender strand of God’s Grace.

Job 1:20-21
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” ESV

When Job’s house collapsed and killed his children Job worshiped. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

As Job says later:

Job 12:10
In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. ESV

God has all our lives in His hand.

1 Sam 2:6
The Lord kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. ESV

Deut 32:39
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. ESV

When we live though the night it is because of God’s grace.

James 4:13-16
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ESV

Life is not about accumulation. It isn’t about getting stuff.

Luke 12:16-21
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” ESV

This night your soul may be required of you.
Possessions aren’t comforting on your death bed (if you’re sane).

Matthew 16:24-25
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ESV

It is possible to waste your life
This culture is geared to making you waste your life in retirement.

So then, what does the unwasted life?

Phil 1:20-21
as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ESV

The unwasted life is a life that in everything puts Christ on display as supremely valuable.

How?

Phil 3:7-8
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. ESV.

By experiencing Christ as such a treasure that everything else in our life is as nothing.
Money, food, and all other things are given so that you can enjoy and live with them in such a way that it is obvious that they are not your treasure but that Christ is.

We treasure Christ above all things.

That is life, now what about death?

How do you magnify Christ in death?

John 21:18-21
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” ESV

Peter was probably crucified upside down and it was planned as a way of glorifying God.

Phil 1:21
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ESV

Phil 1:23
I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. ESV

If death is to be gain in your life then Christ must be more precious than everything you leave behind.

The essentials of life that is not wasted are:

• Knowing in your heart that life and death are gifts given to you in order that you might use them to display the supreme worth of Jesus Christ.
• You must develop and display a supreme valuing of Christ above all things.
• The value you place on Christ is most clearly seen by what you are willing to gladly risk or sacrifice in order to have more of Jesus.

2nd Corinthians 12:8-10
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ESV

The passion of Paul’s life was any life or death that makes Christ more vivid for the world to see.

Will you work for the bread that perishes? Will you waste your life or will you see Christ as the treasure that He really is?

1 Peter 3:15
but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; ESV

This scripture will be active when we are sold out for Christ.

Your Enemy

The Enemy of Your Soul

Bibliography
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Escape from Reason by Francis Schaeffer
Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
The New Geneva Study Bible and the English Standard Version


As C.S. Lewis points out in the preface to the Screwtape Letters;
"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about devils.  One is to disbelieve in their existence.  The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.  They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
(Gen. 3:1).  ESV.

The first thing that we should deal with is, “What do we need to know?”  Of coursed God will reveal to us what is necessary to maintain our Spiritual health but we may have a “prurient” interest that God will find it necessary to restrain.  God knows best how to heal and grow fallen men.  God could instruct us forever but His revelation to us is sufficient.  It is not exhaustive.  If it were then no library could contain all there is too know.  No exhaustive but adequate that we may be mature and effective in His kingdom.  

Since, in the beginning God “saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). It is reasonable to infer that the world, as created, did not contain any fallen angels.  But by the time we find Adam and Even in the garden we find Satan, in the form of a serpent (Gen. 3:1–5). Consequently, we infer that sometime between Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 3:1, there was a rebellion in the angelic world.

It is possible that a description of the Enemy’s fall exists in Isaiah 14.  This comes in a passage in which Isaiah is describing God’s judgment on the king of Babylon but then he seems to move on to a bigger issue than an earthly king.  

Isaiah 14:12-15 How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. ESV.

Most of the detail we find regarding the activity of Satan, the leader of fallen angels, is found in the New Testament but certainly not all of it.  Satan is described as our “adversary” (opponent of God and His people) and the Old Testament describes him as such (1 Chr. 21:1; Job 1; 2; Zech. 3:1, 2.)

1 Chr 21:1-2 Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.  So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” ESV

Here we see that Satan can incite or encourage disobedience to God and that is the core of Satan’s attack on us.  His goal is our disobedience.  He opposes us most often by encouraging disobedience.  

Other titles reveal additional characteristics or Satan.  For example, Devil meaning “accuser” (Rev. 12:9, 10); Apollyon, meaning “destroyer” (Rev. 9:11); tempter (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5); and wicked one (1 John 5:18, 19); “Ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11); murderer and father of lies (John 8:44); the serpent who fooled Eve (Rev. 12:9 and 20:2) and “god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4).  Names such as Ruler of this world and god of this age emphasize the way in which Satan presides over mankind’s anti-God lifestyles (Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19; Rev. 12:9).

Satan’s nature is highlighted by Paul’s statement that he becomes an angel of light, disguising evil as good (2 Cor. 11:14).

2 Cor 11:14-15 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. ESV

The deceptive nature of Satan is also brought to light by Jesus when He stands against those who rejected Him and yet claiming that God as their Father:

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ESV.

The devil can’t live in the truth.  He is a liar in all that he does.  The fundamental lie is that the creature can be equal with God.  This was the devils point of rebellion and it is fallen mankind’s point of rebellion.  The following quote is from the book by C.S. Lewis the “Screwtape Letters.”  Screwtape speaking as a senior demon to a junior demon says of humans that:

“And all the time the joke is that the word “mine” in its fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by a human being about anything.  In the long run either Our Father or the Enemy will say “mine” of each thing that exists, and specially of each man.  They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong – certainly not to them, whatever happens.” Screwtape Letter XX1

Satan is destructive and is described as lion (1 Pet. 5:8) and as a dragon (Rev. 12:9).

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

He opposed Christ’s (Matt. 4:1–11; 16:23; Luke 4:13; cf. Luke 22:3) and he opposes the Christian by looking for weakness and misdirected strengths while undermining faith, hope, and love (Luke 22:32; 2 Cor. 2:11; 11:3–15; Eph. 6:16).

Ephesians 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

While we need to take the devil seriously, we should not have a terror of him.  As Calvin said, he drags his chains with him wherever he goes since his defeat has already been accomplished (Matt. 12:29) and we have victory in Christ as well as we resist with the tools He gives us (Eph. 6:10–18; James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:9, 10; 1 John 4:4).

Remember that although the devil is taken seriously, we are not anywhere close to some false teaching of a dualistic idea of a good god and a bad god caught in a struggle.  Satan is just a creature and not divine.  He is not omniscient, omnipotent, or omnipresent.  He is defeated and only has the power than God allows him and his end will be the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10).

Are Demons Active in the World Today?
Most people in the developed world have a strong naturalistic worldview.  They would argue that only what can be seen or touched or heard is real and therefore they deny that demons exist.  They would then argue that their belief is appropriate and that any belief in demons reflects an obsolete worldview taught in the Bible and other ancient cultures.

C.S. Lewis writing as Screwtape gives voice to the devil’s strategy:

“My dear Wormwood, I wonder you should ask me whether it is essential to keep the patient in ignorance of your own existence.  That question, at least for the present phase of the struggle, has been answered for us by the High Command.  Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves.  Of course this has not always been so.  We are really faced with a cruel dilemma.  When the humans disbelieve in our existence we lose all the pleasing results of direct terrorism, and we make no magicians.  On the other hand, when they believe in us, we cannot make them materialists and skeptics.”  Screwtape in Letter VII

We certainly find a great divide on this topic in the world today.  I’ve lived most of my life in the naturalistic USA.  However, I’ve also been in places like North Sumatra in which a fascination with the spiritual world rises to the level of animism.  If we trust that God has given us a reliable guide in Scripture then it would be foolish to relegate the discussion of Spiritual warfare to superstition.

Not All Evil and Sin Is From Satan and Demons, but Some Is.

The New Testament spends relatively little time focusing on any discussion of demonic activity in the lives of believers.  The focus is on telling Christians to stop sinning and start living in righteousness. For example, in “dissensions” (1 Cor. 1:10); incest (1 Cor. 5:1–5); Christians going to court to sue other believers (1 Cor. 6:1–8); disorder at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:33, 28) the focus is on the sinner and not on any demonic influence.

We really don’t see a biblical unction for “strategic level spiritual warfare,” in which someone (1) summons a “territorial spirit” upon entering an area to preach the gospel or (2) demands information from demons about a local demonic hierarchy (3) says that we should believe or teach information derived from demons or (4) teach by word or example that certain “demonic strongholds” over a city have to be broken before the gospel can be proclaimed with effectiveness. In the New Testament, Christians preach the gospel and lives change.  Demonic opposition may arise, or God himself may reveal the nature of certain demonic opposition, which Christians would then pray and battle against (1 Cor. 12:10; 2 Cor. 10:3–6; Eph. 6:12).  The primary focus is on the choices and actions of people (Gal. 5:16–26; Eph. 4:1–6:9; Col. 3:1–4:6; et al.) and secondarily on demonic issues (1 Tim. 4:1; 3; 4; John 8:44; 1 John 3:8-10).  Here John characterizes all those who are not born of God as children of the devil and subject to his influence and desires.

We must exercise caution so that we fight a wise fight, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4:26) ESV.

Our poor choices can give the enemy an opportunity.  Once again, from Satan’s point of view, he is as happy with any distraction as long as it keeps us from effective service.  We are called to run our race with patience but we can be easily distracted.  The following quote is from Screwtape.  I had it on the wall of my office for years.  I hope it doesn’t remind you of your difficulties in keeping your quiet times as much as it does me.

“And nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man’s best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why, in the gratification of curiosities so feeble the that man in only half aware of them, in drumming of fingers and kicking of heels, in whistling tunes that he does not like, or in the long, dim labyrinth of reveries that have not even lust or ambition to give them a relish, but which, once chance association has started them, the creature is too weak and fuddled to shake off.” Screwtape Letter XII

Can a Christian Be Demon Possessed?
Grudem has a detailed exposition of the problems with using the term “demon possession.”  The New Testament speaks about people who “have a demon” (Matt. 11:18; Luke 7:33; 8:27; John 7:20; 8:48, 49, 52; 10:20) and makes it clear that some people may suffer from demonic influence but it suggests that a demon actually “possesses” someone.

For a Christian, Scripture guarantees that sin shall have no dominion over us since we have been raised with Christ (Rom. 6:14, see also vv. 4, 11) but a believer may come under attack (Luke 4:2; 2 Cor. 12:7; Eph. 6:12; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8).  So if we are trying to define how abnormal a Christian’s life can become all we can say is pretty abnormal.  We have been given authority by Jesus to end that situation.
  
How Can Demonic Influences Be Recognized?
In severe cases of demonic influence there is often bizarre and/or violent behavior (Mark 1:23–24; Mark 9:17–18, 20, 22; Mark 5:2–5)

In one case when Jesus healed an epileptic by casting out a demon (Matt. 17:14–18) but elsewhere epileptics are distinguished from those who are under demonic influence: “They brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them” (Matt. 4:24).   This was true in some other cases and shows the importance of discernment (which Jesus had in perfection).  

Demonic influence can lead to blatantly false doctrinal statements (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 John 4:2–3; 2 Cor. 11:13–15).

Jesus Gives Believers Authority to Rebuke Demons and Conduct Spiritual Warfare.
The authority to rebuke and command the enemy has been given to us (Luke 9:1; Luke 10:17; Luke 10:19; Acts 16:18; 2 Cor. 10:3–4; Eph. 6:10–18; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8–9)

The Scripture in Jude 9 is of special interest and says: “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”’  The context in Jude is not Christian encounters with demonic forces, but is addressing the error of immoral and rebellious false teachers.   Jude 9 doesn’t mean that it is wrong for human beings to rebuke or command demons but it means that we need to remember that our authority is a result of our position in proper submission to Christ.  

First:
We recognize that the work of Christ on the cross is the ultimate basis for our authority over demons (Heb. 2:14; Col. 2:15; Rev. 12:11).  The power to cast out demons comes not from our own strength or the power of our own voice, but from the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20).

Second:
Our membership as children in God’s family is the firm spiritual position from which we engage in spiritual warfare (Gal. 3:26)

Third:
We should not fear demons (1 John 4:4; 2 Tim. 1:7; Phil. 1:28; Eph. 6:16; Eph. 6:13; 2 Cor. 10:4).

Fourth:
The authority in practice is simply and generally briefly speaking a command and/or scripture to an evil spirit to leave when we suspect the presence of demonic influence in our personal lives or the lives of those around us (James 4:7; Eph. 6:17; Matt. 4:1–11; Matt. 12:28–29; Luke 10:17–19; 2 Cor. 10:3–4; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8–9; 1 John 3:8; 4:4; 5:18).

Appropriate Use of the Christian’s Spiritual Authority in Ministry to Other People.
First:
Use gentleness in ministry to others (1 Cor. 14:33). You may even gently ask questions of those who you are ministering to and ask them if they think they are under attack and let them know what you are doing.  

Second:
This doesn’t have to be a dramatic or emotionally charged event.  Rather than long and loud procedures Jesus simply “cast out the spirits with a word” (Matt. 8:16) although some showed a slight initial resistance (Mark 5:8; Luke 8:29; Mark 5:9–13; Luke 8:30–33)  

Third:
Focus on the person you are ministering to and the truths of the Bible. We simply practice the basics of exercising our authority and be “babes in evil” (1 Cor. 14:20).  Minister the Gospel if the person is not a Christian (Matt. 12:43–45)

Fourth:
Effectiveness can be related to our own spiritual condition (Matt. 17:18–20; Mark 9:29).

Fifth:
Expect the Gospel to Come in Power.
We can trust God to move in power when we obey (Luke 4:41; Acts 8:7; Acts 26:18; 1 Cor. 2:4–5; 1 John 3:8).

C.S. Lewis

This week we will take a quick look at the life of C.S. Lewis.  He was a gift to the church who was born on November 29, 1898 and died November 22, 1963.  

The service known as the Christian Quotation of the Day (www.cqod.com) circulated the following quote on the anniversary of his death this year.  

Quotation:
    The word religion is extremely rare in the New Testament and the writings of mystics. The reason is simple. Those attitudes and practices to which we give the collective name of religion are themselves concerned with religion hardly at all. To be religious is to have one’s attention fixed on God and on one’s neighbor in relation to God. Therefore, almost by definition, a religious man, or a man when he is being religious, is not thinking about religion; he hasn’t the time. Religion is what we (or he himself at a later moment) call his activity from outside.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), "Lilies that Fester," from
        The World’s Last Night: And Other Essays, p. 32 [1960]

Lewis was an introspective man and he was concerned about purity in motives.  If you can’t attend this Sunday please note that my notes are included as the first comment attached to this post.

WAH - Chapter 11

If I had not sought God for years, I can image thinking that it is impossible to get my life straight.  I can imagine thinking, “What is the use of trying to find an adventure to live since I had my chance and now I’m old and it is too late.” If that were true then a mediocre life of regrets would be all that is left for me.  However, God, who is rich in Mercy and Grace is able to lead us from wherever we are into the adventure of a life lived for Him.  He is the “Great Shepherd”.  I remember listening to a man who studied the habits of French shepherds.  He was speaking French so I missed a bunch of what he was saying but he was really excited about what he was finding out.  We don’t really have as rich a history of shepherding in the United States.  The shepherds plan from where the herd is now to the end of the day and watch them closely to adapt the plan to how they are behaving.  They know the entire lay of the land and all the possibilities and what the pastures are like before they arrive with the herd.  You could hand them a herd of sheep anywhere in their territory and they could quickly plan the best path of grazing to the end of the day at the barn.  God is the “Great Shepherd” not just because of the size of His herd and the way He protects His herd; God is the “Great Shepherd” because He can work with you wherever you are to grow you and make you productive in His Kingdom.  He will use the years you give Him to make your life an adventure lived before Him and bless those beyond you.  

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations,”
Deuteronomy 7:9 (ESV)

Auburn Alabama

Do not desire crosses, unless you have borne well those
laid on you; it is an abuse to long after martyrdom while
unable to bear an insult patiently.
... Francois de Sales (1567-1622)

WAH - Chapter 10

I was thinking of how lightly we tend to take pursuit of relationship with our wives.  In the pursuit of elk, I have hiked up and down mountains until my quadriceps would no long hold me and I had to back down the mountain to keep from falling.  I’ve hiked miles in the desert and trespassed for the chance to catch a bass in a steep hidden canyon.  I’ve hiked in the dark though unfamiliar land to be in the right place for a shot at a mule deer.  So do I have that same mind in the pursuit of my wife?  
     Sometimes, maybe even frequently, we do have that sort of pursuit in courtship.  So what happens?  Are we so shallow that we think we have the trophy and can move on to the next thing?  How dim witted to think that because I’ve won the heart of a bride that I’ve won the heart of a woman.  The heart of a woman takes winning each day.  I was a boy when I won the heart of my bride.  Over thirty years later I’m still trying to learn to win her heart every day.  It is a tremendous source of joy in the life of a man and yet we are slow to learn.  God has given me a wife and I’ve found favor with God (Proverbs 18:22).  Now, I need to be a man and learn to love her as Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5:25).

WAH - Chapter 9

Isaiah 54:17  
no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.
(ESV. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society)

2 Corinthians 10:4-5
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
(ESV. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society)

God’s promises to us as we obey Him are deeply reassuring.  The accuser of your soul is defeated by scripture as you confess what God says about you.  We inherit this blessing from God our Father and we are vindicated by Him.  In context, the verses in 2nd Corinthians speak to those who are false teachers and in unrepentant sin within the Church.  I like to also claim the scripture for myself.  Praying that every argument, opinion, and thought that is contrary to God would be taken captive for Christ.  As it says in the 23 and 24th verse of the 139th Psalm   Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (ESV)

  

WAH - Chapter 8

If we would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God from Heaven.  For he who giveth us occasion to fight, to the end we may get the victory, is ready to succor those that fight manfully, and do trust in his grace.  – Thomas A Kempis

In this chapter we begin a discussion of the battle we find ourselves in every day.  God will work in you to make you the man He wants you to be.  I pray that God will continue to build you guys up and bring His work to completion in you.

The detailed notes can be found in the 1st comment below.

Healing

Last week we studied healing of wounds in the life of men. Ultimately, we seek healing in our relationship with God to remove those wounds that prevent maturity in our Christian walk. God is at work in your heart to accomplish this healing. The fundamental impediment to our healing is sin. Sin causes us to cling to wounds and hurts. For example, unforgiveness and bitterness can fester in our heart. Rather than embrace forgiveness through the power of the Holy Spirit we can feed the root of bitterness.

In seeking healing remember the following:

1. You must know the Word and how it speaks into your life. If God says to have compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience while putting up with each other and forgiving each other (Colossians 3:12&13) then I need to know that scripture and seek God about how it impacts me and corrects me and tells me how I should behave.

1. If I never reflect on my life then how will God get my attention? If I don’t have a quiet time will I force God to find another way to get through my thick skull? If we are God’s children then He will speak into our lives and correct us. Ignoring my Dad and running from him were both really bad ideas when I was a child. God is patient but He is at work in the lives of His children to accomplish His purposes. Do the smart thing and cooperate with Him.
   

1. You need to call sin in your life sin. Don’t make excuses for your sin like Adam or Saul. Conviction from God (not condemation from the enemy of your soul) is a precious gift and you need to respond like David did. When God convicts your heart then realize that your sin is against a holy and just God and repent (turn away from your sin and turn to God).
   

1. Confess your sins and God will heal you. He is faithful to cleanse you and He is also just. He didn’t wink at your sin and decide to ignore it. He is a Holy God. Jesus paid the price in full. The just punishment for your sins has been paid. If your sins have impacted others then God may lead you to ask for their forgiveness too. I pray that your love will grow more and more with knowledge and discernment so you can approve excellent things and be pure and blameless before Christ to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:9-11)

Thanks to Dr. Mark Dever (Senior Pastor of Capital Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and executive director of 9Marks Ministries) whose article titled, Relying on Christ in the September 2005 issue of “Table Talk” helped point out these principles.

The Call Part 4

We need to remember to keep our jobs and day to day activities in the right relationship to our Call in God. Our work is not our primary call. God wants to be present in our day to day work to emphasize and develop our primary call. He will then work in our hearts as we pursue Him and work unto Him in our secondary call. President Coolidge said, “The man who builds a factory builds a temple. The man who works there worships there.” Well that may be true for good or bad. If you built a factory for a collection of dedicated Christians, and they were working as unto God, then maybe, in a sense, President Coolidge was right. But the president could be right in a wrong way. We can allow work to take God’s place in our life and worship work as work. We can take a good thing and make it a burden that distracts and prevents our following God’s call on our life. We need lives in balance to keep work a blessing in our lives.

As Os Guinness says, “We are not primarily called to do something or go somewhere; we are called to Someone” and points out “God normally calls us along the line of our giftedness, but the purpose of giftedness is stewardship and service, not selfishness.”

In following God’s call on our lives we need to recognize:

1. Our individual calling will be integrated with those around us. We can’t be selfish at this point and will need flexibility.


2. Our later specific callings to service must not erase our original calling by God to follow Him. I’ve seen pastors lose their ministries over this while God cleaned their hearts and put Himself back on the throne of their life.


3. God will use many things that are peripheral to your primary call to mold you and grow you. Don’t try to box God in what He will use in your secular job or even in service opportunities at church.


4. There is a certain mystery in our calling that remains. God gives you a lamp for your feet so you can see where your feet are and where to place the next step. Then he gives you a light to indicate the overall path. All that “between stuff” is the mystery of walking and living our lives “coram Deo”, before the face of God.

We have an opportunity to live in this world in a way that will stand out. We can live as if ideas mean something and have consequence in a world sold on relativism. We can live our lives without masks and be real in a world that poses and treats actors as idols.

WAH - More on Chapter 6

Last week we watched a portion of an old Northern Exposure episode. One of the characters (Holling) was dealing with the death of a grizzly that had nearly killed him. It was a defining moment in his life and he had tracked the bear for years. The bear died of old age and Holling’s world was shaken when this icon of his life was removed. He went into the wilderness and found that the bear was not the only challenge to be found. He summarizes by saying that all you need to do is “gird up you loins” and go after the challenge. Eldredge, the author of Wild at Heart, does a great job of identifying this characteristic love of (and even a need for) adventure and challenge in the life of men. It isn't there by accident.

God wants to sanctify and use our love of adventure. The adventures God leads us into become like constellations in our life. That is why Holling said as he buried the bear, “You were a big bear”. This is a reference to the Big Bear constellation. The creators of the episode use the song by Enya, “Paint the Sky with Stars” to reinforce that concept. The Big Bear constellation or “Big Dipper” is what we use to find the North Star. The Star we love for navigation because it doesn’t move. The adventures God brings into our life, when they rightly become a part of our lives, point to our God who doesn’t move. We look to our immutable God as we navigate in our lives.

In the Southern Hemisphere they don’t have a North Star. I’ve been fortunate enough to cross the equator a few times. The first time I crossed I remember thinking that I wasn't going to be comfortable with the stars in the sky changed. I was walking on the beach at night and there was no North Star. There was no Polaris. Nothing really looked very familiar. I was with some folks who had been there before and they said, “Look there is the Southern Cross.” There is a Cross that doesn’t stand still in the sky like Polaris but always points south. The Cross in our life has a unique role in guiding our life. Jesus said that we are to take up our cross and follow Him (Mat 10:38; Luke 14:27).

In one case, God gives us a guidance that doesn’t move or change in the heavens. In the other case, God gives us a cross that points the way to follow. When Holling said, “gird up your loins” he was using a biblical reference. I’ve selected two scriptures that use the phrase “gird up your loins” in the King James Version (KJV). The phrase means to get ready to move by belting up your robe. The following scriptures are in the English Standard Version (ESV) and I’ve bolded the portions of scripture that the KJV translates as “gird up your loins.”

Here is Jesus’ command to you as a disciple:

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Lk 12:35-36).

Here we are told to gird up the loins of our minds:

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (1 Pe 1:13-19).

WAH - Chapter 7

In this chapter of "Wild at Heart" the subject of religious experiences comes up. Religious experiences or “mountain top experiences” are great but I haven’t seen many people find short cuts to sanctification. Our sanctification is a struggle. Our author states that “the power is in us.” The power is in us but not of us. God our Father is working within us to accomplish His purposes.

Please meditate on the following scripture from the Apostle Paul. More notes are available from the "comments" link below.

1 Corinthians 4:6-18

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

WAH - Chapter 6

I was reading Philippians chapter 1 and I pray the following for you guys:

“it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

We need to love with knowledge and discernment so we can be pure and blameless. To minister we need the fruit of righteousness that we produce as we abide in the vine that is Christ. The glory and praise goes to God for His Grace that is showered in our lives. As we pursue God for the work of sanctification in our lives we need His strength to live as the men God calls us to be.

Thank you Stewart

This is pastor appreciation month. Stewart has surely been a blessing in our lives. Continue to pray that God will protect and bless him. Here he is visiting our class last Sunday. He wanted to make sure we had the opportunity to see the pictures of his new grandchild (who is by the way a distant cousin of mine and a beautiful baby). For those who are wondering, yes that is Ernie Mitchell back in class!

WAH - Chapter 5

It is a critical part of living our lives before God that we seek Him first and that our validation come from Him. The Shema Prayer (Deut 6:4) that Stewart mentioned last Sunday is a key part of morning and evening prayers for a Jew. This scripture emphatically places Gods validation and instruction at such a high point in our lives that all other opinions pale in comparison.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
(English standard version. 2001. Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

God knows the constant attention that is required to keep us from seeking validation as men from things other than Him. Ask God to keep this principle in the forefront of your mind as you relate to others and live your life before His face.

WAH - Chapter 4

I really appreciate interacting with you guys in class and thanks for the privilege of teaching.

We discussed original sin briefly this morning but it does come up again in Chapter 4 of Wild at Heart.  Original sin is much more complex than what Eldredge describes as “every man comes into the world set up for a loss of heart.”  Even Bob Dylan got it right when he wrote a song called “Saved” and said “I was blinded by the devil; Born already ruined; Stone-cold dead; As I stepped out of the womb; By His grace I have been touched; By His word I have been healed; By His hand I have been delivered; By His spirit I Have been sealed.”  We were born sinners and spiritually dead.  We bless God that He touches us, heals us, delivers us, and seals us as His.

I’m going to try to find some time to read and meditate on the relationship of Jonathan and David (1 Samuel 13 to 2 Samuel 1).  Eldredge correctly points out that men rarely offer direct complements or praise each other directly.  I struck me that Jonathan and David didn’t seem to suffer from that “affliction”.  What do you think God would say about that characteristic in us?

I think the relationship of Jonathan and David may set a Godly example for us.

Lake Jocasee

I spent Saturday with Dave T. on Lake Jocasee in South Carolina touring waterfalls. Tomorrow we should be looking at Chapters 3 and 4 of Wild at Heart.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3 ESV)

Memorial for 9/11

This is a photo of a memorial for the relatives of Jay's wife that were killed during 9/11.

The Call Part 3

A long time ago, in a land far away, there was a man who was (by all accounts) short and fairly ugly.  God, who is no respecter of persons, saved this man’s soul in 1785.  The man, out of gratitude, thought that he should give up what had been his calling and follow God in “full time ministry.”  He had been very active and effective in politics prior to his conversion.  Fortunately, a minister named John Newton (the author of the song Amazing Grace) convinced him that he should consider the possibility that he had been raised up for the good of the nation of England.  After much prayer and thought, he decided that Newton was correct and sought God for what He would have him do.  The man’s name is William Wilberforce and after much prayer he stated that “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners.”  Manners in modern language would translate to habits, attitudes, and morals.  Wilberforce is not well known but he sought God and he changed the world.  He was the driving force that eliminated slavery in England.  He had enough success in the reformation of habits, attitudes, and morals that some historians credit him with saving England from the violent ends found in the French revolution.  He was called by some the “Washington of humanity.”  The odds against him were staggering.  He was not a member of a mainstream church.  He was a member of the evangelicalism movement.  The slave trade was accepted almost without question as an acceptable and essential part of the economy of his nation.  He was opposed by the royal family, those in political power, those with money, and national heroes such as Lord Nelson both at home and in the colonies.  He was physically assaulted and one of his friends said, “I shall expect to read of you carbonadoed (sliced and roasted) by West Indian planters, barbecued by African merchants and eaten by Guinea captains, but do not be daunted, for – I will write your epitaph!”  Wilberforce worked 50 years before he accomplished his goals.  

Guinness says that “Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything thing we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service”

Wilberforce clearly heard the call, knew his life purpose, and lived it.

Guinness outlines 4 points;

1. Calling has a simple meaning.  Someone is calling and someone is called.  There is a speaker and a hearer.


2. Calling by God is a creative force.  He calls and enables so we can become what He calls us to be.


3. We are called out of the world to be followers of His


4. The call is no casual suggestion but to a living sacrifice for each of us in all our lives.

Our primary calling as followers of Christ is by Him, to Him, and for Him.
Our secondary calling, considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere, and in everything should think, speak, live, and act entirely for Him.  

Our work, whatever it is, becomes a secondary calling and is sanctified (set apart by God for His purposes) as we pursue our primary calling to God.  Remember to hold the two callings together and in the proper order.

Sunday Morning

Chuck prepares to make a phone call to locate his donuts. Thanks for the great discussion in class this week.

Berry Benefit Ride

Pat and I just returned from participating in the benefit motorcycle ride for the Berrys. We had a good time. The weather was warm and the ride was an arc around the North of Athens ending at Rass n' Ruby's for the door prizes. Mike Berry was there and participated in the ride. Maryann is home but in therapy. He would like to join us on Sundays but can't right now. Please keep praying for Maryann to recover. There were about 35 bikes of all types.

The Call Part 2

I recently read a book on managing the generations. The book was the result of studying the various generations (WW2, Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Nexters). The author suggested tailoring your management style to match the generation of each employee. Some of these guidelines are more or less true and can be helpful but they don’t address ultimate questions of identity and personality. They force a one size fits all approach to individuals that have plenty of individuality. The individual baby boomer gets lost in the shuffle of all baby boomers when we look at people this way or try to understand ourselves in this way. Os Guinness (in his book “The Call”) noticed that many people use these categories rather than dealing with individuality and seeking to understand why they are the way they are. In the end, you are a prisoner of your “category.” It can be race, gender, class, generation, or ancestry. In fact we invent new categories everyday and men even categorize each other by their jobs.

Guinness also points out another angle of attack on the problem of “who am I” and “why am I alive”. Some folks say you “just do it” and you can be anything you have the courage to be. A philosopher named Nietzche decided that the concept of God (and God too of course) was dead. You had to muster up the courage to be a superman. Either obey yourself or be commanded. Use self mastery and will power to pull yourself up to the heights and then you can claim you did it because you willed it to be. In our society we do plenty of self construction. We can develop the identity we want by our selection in our consumer society. Who you are is just one more thing you can purchase off the shelf. You craft who you are. We have no clue why. Our purpose is gone but we can craft ourselves as long as the money holds out. Einstein said that a perfection of means and a confusion of goals seems to characterize our age. We find ourselves at a moment in history with great means to act but we have some how lost the script and don’t know what the goal is.

Reality has a nasty way of showing us that it can take more than a strong will to achieve a goal. Being constrained by categories is tough but being told I can be anything I want to be is tougher. Then when I fail it is bigger than plain vanilla failure because it is a failure of my will and spirit. This dead end has resulted in some folks taking a third position that can be thought of as a belief that we are “constituted to be”. We are told by this philosophy that we bear the seeds of what we will be from birth. But these folks end up bowing at the altar of fate and determinism. They live in a crushing place that is forcing them into a form both from within and without to be something. They may be little more than spectators in the process.

All three positions have grains of truth. I am certainly influenced by all the categories that I fit into. I can certainly achieve a great deal when I decide to do it. I am clearly constituted to be something by my nature and not be other things by my nature (Michael Vick will not face me in the NFL). I know that I am unique in God’s eyes. I am not constrained to be … I am called to be.

Guinness points out that:

The Caller sees and addresses us as individuals – as unique, exceptional, precious, significant, and free to respond. He who calls us is personal as well as infinite and personal in himself, not just to us. So we who are called are addressed as individuals and invited into a relationship (“I have called you by name,” God said). We are known with an intimacy that is a source of gratitude and soul-shivering wonder (“Such knowledge,” the psalmist wrote, “is too wonderful for me”). The notion of life as karma, or the belief that your future is unchangeably “written,” is as far from the truth of calling as you can get.

God is calling right now. He has a plan right now. You may have ignored Him for years. He still has a plan to move you from where you are to where you need to be. God’s discipline is a precious thing that brings life. God’s discipline corrects us and leads to His blessing.

Joel 2:25-27 (ESV)
I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent among you.
“ You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

The Call Part 1

Some copies of the book, “Captivating” will be available for 13 dollars in class on Sunday. This is the companion volume to Wild at Heart. Some of you may want to purchase this book for your wife to read and discuss with you.

I was thinking about the importance that we (especially men) place on having at purpose and adventure in living. It reminded me of a book I read a few years ago. The title of the book is The Call by Os Guinness. The author works to develop a biblical view of calling. Guinness says “calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.”

There are a number of unsatisfactory philosophies in vogue in regard to spiritual searching and calling. One is to view the search as its own reward. You can just relax and chant “better to travel hopefully than to arrive.” Open minds can be empty heads. How can you travel hopefully if there is no destination? Secondly, you can define desire as bad. Guinness points out that this South Asian view leads to the conclusion that desire is not a good thing that can go wrong but is essentially bad. Thirdly, you can seek a human love on this earth as the most and highest good (Think Chick Flick, think the movie Titanic).

Fourth, in Guinness’ list, you can seek God’s love (agape). He says that:

The way of agape insists that, because true satisfaction and real rest can only be found in the highest and most lasting good, all seeking short of the pursuit of God brings only restlessness. This is what Augustine meant in his famous saying in Book One of Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.

Agape differs radically from the other methods of searching. We can search for an earthly love and, as we see in Wild at Heart, that can be an important part of many men’s lives. But Agape is bigger and God driven. We need Him to bridge the gap between us and Him. Guinness points out that:

If we are to desire the highest good, the highest good must come down and draw us so that it may become a reality we desire. All is grace. The secret of seeking is not in our human ascent to God, but in God’s decent to use. We start out searching, but we end up being discovered. We think we are looking for something; we realize we are found by Someone. As in Francis Thompson’s famous picture, “the hound of heaven” has tracked us down.

Listen to C.S. Lewis’ description of what happened to him in the summer of 1929 when he moved from being an atheist to a believer.

As the dry bones shook and came together in the dreadful Valley of Ezekiel’s, so now a philosophical theorem, cerebrally entertained, began to stir and heave and throw off its graveclothes, and stood upright and became a living presence. I was to be allowed to play at philosophy no longer. It might, as I say, still be true that my “Spirit” differed in some way from the God of popular religion. My Adversary waived the point. It sank into utter unimportance. He would not argue about it. He only said, “I am the Lord”; “I am that I am”; “I am.”

People who are naturally religious find difficulty in understanding the horror of such a revelation. Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about “man’s search for God.” To me, as I then was, they might as well have talked about the mouse’s search for the cat.

We so often underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit in calling. I doubt the Apostle Paul doubted His power. Jesus knocked him down, blinded him, and rebuked him. I wonder what Paul thinks of the words of the hymn, “softly and tenderly Jesus is calling?"

Guinness says, “The notion of calling, or vocation, is vital to each of us because it touches on the modern search for a basis for individual identity and an understanding of humanness itself.”

I’ll try to summarize more of Guinness comments on calling while we are studying “Wild at Heart.”

Class News

Here are the current prayer requests:

1) Minnie (new church member) - May need back surgery, pray for healing and financial blessing

2) Bud & the senior's trip to Gatlinburg

3) Tim's family

4) The displaced family that we (BHBC) are ministering to as the family decides on their future

5) Phil lost two cousins last week; pray for his family's spiritual health and especially for the Gospel to prosper in his family

6) Pray for Dave T's children

Next week Robert leads us in our continuing study of Wild at Heart.

The Silver Chair

I was thinking about the bored condition of many Christian men described by Eldredge. It reminded me of a story written by C.S. Lewis. Lewis wrote a series called “The Chronicles of Narnia” and it is headed for the movie theaters this fall. If you have children, then turn off the TV and read these books to them. My children loved the books and listened to me read the entire series twice. It is a fantasy series with many Christian parallels and teachng many biblical concepts.

The fourth book of the seven book series is The Silver Chair. The heart of the story is the rescue of a man who is bewitched. In reality, he is royalty and it is time for him to take the throne. However, he is trapped in a dark kingdom below ground and he only remembers who he is once a day for an hour. He can’t get free because each night, just before he remembers who he is and what he is supposed to be doing, his captors strap him into a silver chair. When he can think clearly he can’t get out of the silver chair. Most of the time, he can’t remember who he is or how he has been separated from his birthright. Eventually, he is freed by a group serving Aslan (who represents Christ in the book series).

For me, the story drove home the scripture in

James 1:19-25
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (English Standard Version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society).

Do you remember who you serve, what your birthright is, and what you are called to be doing? If we stay away from the Word then we forget it all. We may have a comfortable chair made of silver but if it costs our birthright and keeps us from service then we need to get up out of the chair. Jesus says that apart from Him you can do nothing and remember that nothing is not a little something. Men like action and God already has a plan for you. You can do all things through Him.

Sunday Sept 18, 2005

Today’s discussion in class was great.  I’ve been thinking about the concepts of “fierceness” in the heart of man that Bud brought up.  I was reminded of a message that I delivered to a congregation in Raleigh about 10 years ago.  I think that the portion near the end of the message that discusses the life and racing of Eric Liddle explains “fierceness” in a Christian (at least from my point of view).  I called it reckless abandonment to the will of God.  I also found that the third definition for fierce in Webster’s Unabridged to be: very eager, ardent, intense; as, a man fierce for his party.  That could work if we assume that is what Eldredge was getting at.  I think Liddle was beyond intense.  He was described as running like a wild animal by one of his chief competitors.  They said the actor that played him had difficulty learning to run with his head thrown back because he couldn’t see where he was going.  Liddle apparently didn’t have any trouble running while looking up at the sky.  I think maybe he had a different finish line in mind.  He died while working as a missionary in China.

Reckless Abandonment (approximately 1995) – I’ve edited the following to shorten it.

A number of years ago I was thinking about the phrase, “reckless abandonment” as it applies to our lives as Christians.  What the phrase means is a careless or heedless yielding of oneself completely to a cause or feeling.  

As a scripture text I was drawn to 2 Samuel chapter 6 and the challenge to King David’s heart as a result of his interaction with the Ark of the Covenant.  David had just won a great victory over the Philistines and God had demonstrated His blessing of Israel in the fight.  David really wanted to go get the Ark and put it back where it belonged.  It doesn’t appear that he sought God about the task of moving the Ark that had been gone about 100 years.  He simply assumed that returning it to the right city would be something God would bless.  David took 30,000 men and went to get the Ark.  They built a new cart and the procession with the Ark followed behind a great celebration of worship.  During the return trip the oxen pulling the cart stumbled and a man named Uzzah reached to steady the Ark.  When he touched the Ark, God struck him dead.  You simply didn’t touch the Ark of God.

David had decided to do something for God and it didn’t go well.  David was angry with God for Uzzah’s death.  It scared David that God could be so demanding and so he left the Ark with a man called Obed-Edom.  The Amplified Bible adds that David was “grieved and offended” even though David really had been slack in following God.  In our pursuit of God, we should be recklessly abandoned to Christ.  This attitude of fervent devotion has sharp focus on the God of the Universe.  David simply decided that God must bless this thing that he would do for Him.  Uzzah knew better than to touch the Ark.  He knew that if you touched the Ark then you would die and David knew it too.  They also knew that the Ark was not to be moved on an oxcart.  God had given detailed instructions on how to move the Ark and no carts were used.  David’s lack of abandonment to the commands of a Holy God was made evident.  He balked at bringing the cart home so he left it with a man named Obed-Edom.  However, when he left the cart with Obed-Edom he left the blessing with him too.

Eventually David’s desire for God overcame his fear and resulted in a reckless abandonment to God’s will.  He was ready to seek God no matter what the cost.  He went to get the Ark the way he was supposed to get the Ark.  The priests carried the Ark and every six steps (the number of man) he would sacrifice a bull and a calf.  David danced with all his might before the Lord.  No risk was too great to keep David from following God with all his heart.  His fear of God’s Holiness and demands were overcome by his desire for God’s Presence and Blessing.  He didn’t care anymore about what happened to him personally because he was completely and recklessly abandoned to the God’s leading.

David’s resolve was tested immediately.  When he returned to bless his household, David’s wife Michal the daughter of Saul told her husband that he was an embarrassment in the way he danced before the Ark and even said he was vulgar.  David didn’t compromise the higher call of God on his life and told Michal that he was going to celebrate before God and be even more undignified in the future.  Apparently Michal never repented of her sin.

David’s reckless abandonment to God cost him a wife who abandoned him to seek her own honor.  God sees our hearts and knows where we are flawed and where we draw back and where the doors are shut to the rooms we want to keep private from even Him.  Only God can search hearts.  There are people on the mission field whose hearts are far from God.  I’ve even heard of missionaries getting saved on the mission field.  That is certainly a frightening situation in my eyes.  The quiet elderly saint may have a heart on fire and move mountains in prayer.

The movie “Chariots of Fire” tells the story of a runner named Eric Liddel.  As much as I can tell from what is said about him, he was recklessly abandoned to the will of God.  In everything he did he seems to have sought God.  His sister was afraid that he would get so interested in running that he wouldn’t go on the mission field.  Eric knew that God had made him fast and that God loved it when he ran.  He and God rejoiced in the run.  Once, during a quarter mile race, a competitor elbowed Liddel so hard he fell and landed in the infield.  The reasonable thing to do would be stay down and lodge a protest.  But Liddel was abandoned to God’s will, God had him in that race, and the race wasn’t over yet.  He got up, ran like there was nothing else on earth to ever do, and won.  He fell gasping for air and completely spent in the race.  Another competitor was watching from the stands and waiting for his chance to race him on another day.   The competitor’s comment was that he was afraid of Liddle because he ran like a wild animal.  The world can’t understand what happens when a heart is wholly given to God.  It is, as it should be, simply frightening.

Whatever you do, no matter if it is something you say or something you do, make sure you are doing it in Jesus name and in dependence on His enabling as you praise God the Father (Colossians 3:17).  Don’t let your life have any part outside fellowship with God.  Abandon each part to the will of God and trust Him.

Move into fellowship with God and don’t question His motives in your life.  You can’t know everything He has in store for you and you are not wise enough to be His counselor.  You will learn to yield to God completely without care or worry.  He will teach you that but it won’t always be easy.  Learn to surrender and cast your cares on Him if you believe He cares for you.  If you are offended by what He does with your life then you are not fully surrendered.  He will continue to work faithfully in your life whether you are aware of it or not.  Life lived on earth outside His presence is a great loss.

WAH - Chapter 3

On more than one occasion, Eldredge uses hyperbole to make a point.  For example, he makes the following statement …

Page 42 “The guys who meet for coffee every Thursday morning down at the local coffee shop and share a few Bible verses with each other – where is their great battle?  And the guys who hang out down at the bowling alley, smoking and having a few too many – they’re in the exact same place.”

Well that isn’t very likely to be true.  It is true that our relationship with God can get dry.  We can have hearts without passion for our Lord.  We can be lukewarm (neither hot nor cold) and the object of his displeasure like those in the church at Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22). However, the guys who meet for coffee every Thursday and share Bible verses are  (presumably) learning to use the sword that God gives us for the battle we are called to live.  They aren’t even close to being in the “exact same place” with the guys at the bowling alley.

Eldredge’s most significant weakness is his use (or lack of it) of Scripture.  We study the Bible because we know that we are told to:

… be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:10 – 20, ESV)

You’ll notice in multiple chapters that Eldredge has a fairly limited view of original sin and the fallen nature of mankind.  Remember that just because you find an inclination or urge in your heart doesn’t mean that it is something that pleases God or that God will bless.  God warns us about our hearts.  He says that are desperately wicked and says that we can’t know them but He can and will heal our hearts.  After being informed by Scripture of our problem with sin, we should have a natural distrust of ourselves and cleave to God as the one called along side us to lead and instruct us.  Ephesians makes it clear that we are at war and gives us instruction on armor and weapons.  In a battle, you had better know where your sword is and keep your armor on.  You had better become familiar with your weapon and learn how to use it.  If it takes a Thursday morning bible study, then go for it.  We take golf lessons, tennis lessons, and study hunting and fishing.  Some people even take bowling lessons.  Those things bring some limited benefits in our lives but the Word benefits in all areas of our life both now and for evermore.  I remember listening to an expert hunter speak on the use of various turkey calls.  He had actually learned to suppress his gag reflex so that he could use a call that fits in the back of his throat.  His ability to imitate a Turkey call was amazing and, when using that call, he had both hands available for his weapon.  There are often time when we will find our sinful nature something that we must fiercely refuse to submit to and must eliminate from our lives.  Jesus said that if some body part offends then cut it off.  Jesus could also use hyperbole to make a point.

Sunday Night Class Coming Up

I’ll be teaching a class on Sunday nights in October.  Over three Sunday nights (9th, 16th, and 23rd) we’ll discuss the impact of philosophy as it has filtered through popular culture.  I think it will help you understand the origins and consequences of some of the ideas you now find in your neighbors.

You’ll see announcement in various places:
"Understanding Today’s Culture" - Examine the theological origins of postmodern culture, probe its current expressions, and learn how to respond biblically.

WAH - Chapter 2

Our author confuses himself pretty badly on pages 30 to 32. Risk is can be defined as the possibility of suffering harm or loss. It can mean a factor, thing, or course involving uncertain danger. God knows all the things that can possibly happen but He also knows for certain what will happen. Of course, God knowing for certain what will happen means that He doesn’t risk anything in the sense that we in our limited knowledge do. In an effort to explain the way God is present with us in the moment, Eldredge finds himself confused and argues against God’s omniscience. God is without a doubt sovereign in the full, complete, and perfect sense of the Word. Scripture is clear on this point. You may have surprised your earthly father from time to time (mine always seemed a few steps ahead of me) but you will never surprise your Heavenly Father. Eldredge sees that he has a problem and states “I am not advocating open theism”. Open theism teaches that God doesn't know for sure what will happen. However, if Eldredge isn't arguing for open theism then he would need to disagree with most of what he just taught in the bulk of these pages. You will find some links at the end of this post that discuss the sovereignty of God in more detail (Thanks to Lewis for pulling those up). Ideas have consequences and words have meanings. God’s sovereignty and man’s free will haven’t really “stumped” the church as Eldredge states. You simply can’t overstate the sovereignty of God (as Eldredge accuses theologians of doing). God’s knowledge has no limit. He is perfect in wisdom knowing the end from the beginning. His knowledge is awesome, inspires fear, and brings me to my knees. He doesn’t just know what is going to happen to me tomorrow, He knows all that could happen to me tomorrow and all the consequences of all the things that could happen. He knows perfectly and completely all my decisions that will be made through the exercise of my free will. He doesn’t know my actions because he predicts them from current events or because they are forced or deterministic. He knows my future actions because He is God, glorious in knowledge and transcendent.

http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/sovereignty/sovereignty_index.html

http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/sovereignty.html

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0077.htm

WAH - Chapter 1

As you think about the issues raised in this chapter please think about the courage God calls us to have as we live our lives before Him.

Study some biblical characters who have demonstrated courage (for example, Joshua). I think that the “fierce” aspect that is raised by Eldredge is often another way of saying that we need to exercise courage.

Class News

Prayer Requests:

1) Hurricane Katrina Relief - In addition to prayer there are many opportunities to minister. Look for the yellow trifold brochures at church. I have some additional details if you need them so email me if you want addresses.

2) Pray for the church administration and especially for the stewardship and personnel committee as they prepare the budget for next year.

3) The Guest family

4) Our government - pray for harmony, pray for right judgment, First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2:1&2)

5) Pray for Lewis Noles who has been diagnosed with sleep apnea and is now working through a treatment plan.

6) Pray for us each as class members as we minister to our families.

Upcoming Events: Sept 24th motorcycle benefit ride for the Berrys and October 3 Football Night outreach for men.

Thanks to Don Pickering for great food last Sunday
Food this Sunday will be by Steve Skelton

The Men's Revival Supper was a blessing and the message was very much aligned with the book we are beginning to study "Wild at Heart". I think all the books are gone now from the classroom but you can purchase the book at local bookstores. I've also ordered some of the women's companion book "Captivating" for those of you who think that having your wife understand you would be of more benefit than harm. In fact the speaker at the revival dinner, in addition to providing a foundation for the study over the next few weeks, mentioned our next study material by Piper, "Don't Waste Your Life".

We will discuss the first 3 chapters of Wild at Heart by Eldredge this Sunday.

When I was in High School I had an English teacher who had a real attitude. He actually made us memorize and recite things. At the time we all hated it but one of those things he made me memorize is the first quote in the book we are about to study. I want to repeat it here and give thanks for teachers who don't listen to students when they whine. The quote has meant a lot to me down through the years and, although I wouldn't admit it at the time, I loved it the first time I read it.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly ... who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, a least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known either victory or defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt

Hooah!