Category Archives: Religion

“I Long to See You”

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We don’t normally take a Spring vacation, but Myra and I took a couple of weeks off, beginning on “tax day.” Our chief aim was to “retrieve” my mother, Grace, who had landed in Richmond, Virginia, after spending almost two months visiting her four daughters and their families. Rather than make a straight trip to Virginia, however, I wanted Myra to see some parts of the country she has never seen. I had seen Niagara Falls and Cape Cod as a teenager with my parents, camping throughout the northeast, but Myra has never been to those locations.

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Niagara Falls, April 17, 2013

Traveling to Virginia via those points of interest gave us the perfect opportunity to see her brother, Rowe, who lives south of Boston (a city we planned to visit, but the Marathon bombing canceled that trip). With multiple health issues, including Parkinson’s disease, Rowe’s travel is limited, not even making it to his mother’s funeral in 2006. So, we determined that we needed to travel to him! It was a wonderful visit and good to renew connections with him, his wife and three children we had met and to finally meet the four children we had never seen in the flesh, since we had not seen Rowe in over 20 years.

I realize that it may seem foreign to many to think of never having met nieces and nephews or not seeing a sibling for so many years. However, circumstances sometimes necessitate that kind of physical separation. Though we have maintained communication with Rowe by phone, through mail and Facebook®, nothing beats the ability to shake hands, hug, and talk face to face.

Race Point Beach - Cape Code, April 20, 2013

Race Point Beach – Cape Code, April 20, 2013

Over the years, the nature of my vocation and the distance we are from family have limited our ability to spend time with our family. My side of the family was at one time spread out from Virginia to California. Only in recent years have we been able to gather annually in Florida, but even then we seldom see the entire extended family.

As I thought about our physical separation from family, the Apostle Paul’s desire for face to face encounters came to mind. In several letters, he expressed his intent and deep desire to visit those Christian brothers and sisters; some of whom he had personally discipled, but others with whom he had never spent “face time.” To the Romans, Paul said,

“For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Romans 1:11-12, NASB).

Paul’s face to face time with them was not only for their benefit; he needed it, as well!

Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, VA

Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, VA

I can honestly say that I miss the church family when I am away on vacation. I need the fellowship, worship and encouragement from God and my Crest Baptist family. We need the touch of the Christ-life that resides in each believer, and others, who may not even know they need it, must see the love that we have for one another, so they may see what they are missing.

Many of you are as regular as clockwork in your commitment to meet with the saints in worship and small groups. However, if you feel a twinge of guilt, take that as the prompting of the Holy Spirit and make some adjustments in your life to include regular face to face time with the saints.

YOUR RESPONSE:

  • Last Sunday, I preached from Romans 11:11-32. In that section, Paul said: “In view of the fact that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if I can somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them” (vv. 13-14). His goal in his ministry to the Gentiles was that it would result in unbelieving Jews being made jealous…jealous in the sense of wanting the relationship with God that the Gentiles now had. When you think of your relationship with God and His Body (the church), is it so attractive to unbelievers that they are brought to the point of jealousy, seeing your relationship as one they long to have, too? Or put another way as one commentator said it, “Are the Jews [unbelievers] we meet provoked to jealousy or just provoked?” [1]

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1. R. Kent Hughes, Romans – Righteousness from Heaven, 1991, Crossway, p. 197.

Happy Belated Religious Freedom Day

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It passed by without much fanfare…no one that I know of was celebrating. We take for granted our ability to worship whenever, wherever and with whomever we want. Yesterday (January 16) was Religious Freedom Day in the U.S., commemorating anniversary of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Thomas Jefferson wrote the statute that was passed by the state assembly in 1786. Included in the statute were these words:

“no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened [burdened] in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion.”

John Leland, a Baptist evangelist in Virginia, was responsible for leading Baptists to be early supporters of this act. Later, when Virginia Baptists learned that the U.S. Constitution provided no guarantee of religious freedom, they protested. Leland pressured lawmakers into including religious freedom and freedom of the press into the Constitution. The freedom of the press was a critical component of this legislation since some advocating for religious freedom had been imprisoned because of their publications. Several years later, the Bill of Rights was ratified by our new nation and the freedom of religion was ensured by the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Having come from countries in which “state” religion placed limits on the rights to assemble for worship, preach and express religious dissent, our forefathers knew that it was incumbent upon them to secure these rights. It is equally critical for us to continue to fight for the preservation of these rights as a secular society tries to marginalize and silence the voice of modern day dissenters. We need to pray for those who oppose recent legislation that contradicts religiously held values (i.e., Christian owned companies compelled provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs in its healthcare plan).[1]  We must continue to be the voice for the voiceless (the unborn) as they have been deemed expendable by a Supreme Court ruling.[2]  We must continue to speak up for the sanctity of marriage and the biblical ideal of a one man/one woman, lifelong commitment.[3] 

Because we do take our religious freedoms for granted, we are becoming more in danger of losing them. Failure for us to preserve these rights may one day cause us to fall into the intolerant mode of state that either sponsors one religion (a mode into which Egypt has quickly moved, imprisoning Christian converts) or one that prohibits any expression of faith.

POINTS TO PONDER:

  • In what ways does religious freedom impact your daily life?
  • What are some of the challenges you have experienced in the exercise of your religion?
  • What are you doing (or think you should do) to preserve this freedom?

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1 Hobby Lobby’s opposition to provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act is a potentially landmark case for the preservation of religious freedom, according to Rick Warren. See article HERE.

2 The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention keeps abreast of current legislation and cultural trends that are critical in maintaining our religious freedoms. HERE is an article “Remembering 40 Years of Abortion.” Beyond the issue of abortion, positions on human trafficking, euthanasia, defense of traditional marriage, and gun control are other topics that can be found at this site

3 Again, The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission reports on challenges to this issue HERE and other places on its website.

Lottie Moon

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My good friend, William Richardson, is the pastor of the Afton (IA) Assembly of God. At the beginning of 2012, he began “Lights 4 God” to highlight the stories of Christians, who have played a significant role in impacting the world for the kingdom God. Each blog’s publication date coincides with the individual’s birthday. Lottie Moon was born on December 12, 1840, and William’s blog about Lottie Moon can be accessed HERE.

For anyone in Southern Baptist life, Lottie is well known, at least for the offering that bears her name. Some of the specifics of her life and ministry have been lost to the average layman over the years. The story is told of one man asking, “Haven’t we raised enough money to bring Lottie home?”  This extraordinary woman, however, rightfully serves as a model of Christian discipleship and helped shape the modern missionary movement. The annual emphasis for the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Missions Christmas offering is named in her memory for the ministry for which she gave her life in China in the late 19th to early 20th centuries.

Lottie Moon, herself, suggested that a missions offering be collected at Christmas. She wrote from China in 1887: “Is not the festive season when families and friends exchange gifts in memory of The Gift laid on the altar of the world for the redemption of the human race, the most appropriate time to consecrate a portion from abounding riches and scant poverty to send forth the good tidings of great joy into all the earth?” May we indeed consider that challenge today! In the midst of our own Christmas giving, please consider giving a gift through your own church’s mission work to help spread the Good News to the world.

Click here to read William’s inspiring blog: LOTTIE MOON.

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The following from website of the International Mission Board of the SBC offers some additional links, giving more information about the LMCO, an online giving link and an explanation about the missionary support that comes through Southern Baptist churches’ cooperation:

Every penny you give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® supports missionaries as they share the Gospel overseas. We encourage you to give through your local church but also offer online giving for your convenience. Follow your gifts to your local church through the Cooperative Program from the offering plate to the mission field.

Me, Disciple Someone?

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Christ’s mandate—to make disciples—is the theme of this week’s Radical study. Although Peter’s preaching resulted in the conversion of 3,000 on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41), Christ’s strategy for reaching the world with his small band of people was NOT mass evangelism. Instead, Jesus clearly gave them the mandate for impacting the world through the process of making disciples:

18 Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of[ all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20, HCSB)

Rather than pursue modern “church growth” techniques and church marketing, we must return to the Biblical standard of discipleship—that is, the relational transmission of God’s truth in action from one person to another. As Jesus spoke of being the intermediary between the Father and man, He told His disciples to “learn from Me” (Matthew 11:29). Likewise, Jesus has entrusted to us an intermediary role between Him and new believers in order to:

…qualitatively trigger the process of total Christian learning / incarnating / living / testifying / soul-winning / teaching / disciple-building into the life of a new Christian. [1]

This should result in the 2 Timothy 2:2 reproductive pattern; from Paul to Timothy to faithful men and to others also. We see in that passage four generations of multiplying, Truth-transferring, world-impacting Christians.

Who is following you as you are following Christ? Into whom are you pouring your spiritual knowledge and passion, so that they will pour that truth into another? Put another way, do you have spiritual children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren?

The task may seem daunting. So, how do we go about that task? We begin with prayer. Even Jesus prayed to the Father before choosing His disciples. Ask God to lead you in the selection process. [2] He may lead you to someone who is already a believer, but immature. His leadership, however, may be to the “unbeliever,” with whom you can begin spiritual dialogues –  for the process starts at pre-conversion in order that they can be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Then, as the Great Commission continues, you continue to teach them all that Christ commanded. As you have developed a rapport with the individual you have led to Christ, it is logical that you continue the process of leading them to maturity.

Where do you find the resources to disciple someone? Every believer should have a level of knowledge necessary to lead someone through the rudimentary elements of the gospel, along with your personal testimony of faith in Christ, thus allowing the Holy Spirit to convict a person of sin and draw him to repentance and salvation. Anyone, who has been in the fellowship of the church for any length of time, should have an incredible amount of resources from the Word of God at their finger tips or in their memory banks, allowing them to disciple someone else from the point of salvation to the level of a maturing, reproductive believer.

Herb Hodges suggests the following discipleship themes to accomplish this process:

  1. devotional: the means and mechanics of a daily, personal devotional life;
  2. doctrinal: the basic teachings of the Bible on things like God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, sin, salvation, etc.;
  3. dispositional: how to live a life of self-control in attitude and behavior;
  4. distress: how to face and overcome life’s difficulties;
  5. domestic: the biblical teachings on marriage and family;
  6. dedicational: living under the Lordship of Christ and His purposes;
  7. directional: seeing the strategy for being and building disciples. [3]

If you will begin to think in these categories, you can easily file your Sunday School / Bible study lessons and preaching notes into these themes and have ready resources to lead someone to become a follower of Christ.

This, of course, is only meant to “whet your appetite” and is in no way a thorough treatise on disciple-making. However, I hope that you will seriously weigh your responsibility and become faithful to this mandate!

YOUR RESPONSE:

  • Do you view the Great Commission as the responsibility of all believers or a select group of followers of Christ (ie: missionaries, pastors, etc.)?
  • What fears or inadequacies keep you from taking on the role of a disciple-maker?
  • If you are a disciple-maker, what words of encouragement would YOU give someone who is hesitant to take on the role? What resources have been helpful to you?

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1  Hodges, Herb, Fox Fever, Spiritual Life Ministries, p ii. (This is a great “how to” book available from the author HERE. Fox Fever is Herb’s sequel to Tally Ho the Fox, which lays out the foundational principles for making disciples, while Fox Fever relates to the practical side of disciple-making. Both are valuable resources.)

2  The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman is a “must read” as a classic examination of Jesus’ process of making disciples. It highlights eight areas of disciple-making: selection, association, consecration, impartation, demonstration, delegation, supervision and reproduction.

3  Hodges, pp 147-160.

Radical Focus

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In our church-wide study of Radical by David Platt, he asks, “Do you really believe this Book [the Bible]?” While we usually give mental assent to its truthfulness, do we always demonstrate agreement by our actions? That has been the challenge this week.

It has been interesting to hear the comments and challenges that we are encountering through this study from the Word of God. The comments run the gamut from this being a totally new teaching that is being met with skepticism to the view that “this isn’t ‘radical’… it’s ‘ordinary’ Christianity.” I think the variety of responses speaks to a couple of things.

First, we are all at differing levels of maturity or “completion.” Some need the “milk” of the Word, while others can handle the “meat” of the word (see Hebrews 5:13-14). While some may not be at a point of fully assimilating God’s truth, we must not be content to remain “bottle-fed.” Just as this would be a physical abnormality, it is a spiritual anomaly, too. Paul said:

3:1 Brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 because you are still fleshly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and living like unbelievers?                                                (1 Corinthians 3:1-3, HCSB).

Therefore, we need to lovingly acknowledge our different levels of spiritual maturity, but always strive for growth under the Spirit’s tutelage through our exposure to the truths we are learning.

Secondly, a healthy dose of uncertainty/curiosity/skepticism is good. You have heard me say, “Don’t take my word for it, search out the scriptures for yourself.” If you’re not sure what David Platt says is true, check it against the Bible. That’s exactly what the Bereans did:

10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea. On arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.                                                                   (Acts 17:10-12, HCSB).

I continue to be excited by what God is doing and pray that you will “hang in there” as we seek to be transformed by a radical focus on God through His Word, enabling us to be seen in a way that looks radical to the world.

A Distorted View of God

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Last Spring, a book was published by a popular pastor/author, causing quite a controversy in evangelical circles. Rob Bell’s Love Wins suggested that a literal Hell does not exist and that ultimately everyone will experience eternity with God. However, this belief – Universalism –  does not line up with orthodox Christianity. Just as the title of Bell’s book focuses on God’s love, many Christians focus on that attribute of God to the exclusion of His other attributes. Thus, the same Good News that God has entrusted to us to share with others for their salvation can be distorted, ensuring that they never hear it in its completeness. Indeed, God is love, but He is also holy and just (“the wages of sin is death,“ Romans 6:23).

In this week’s Radical workbook study, we were asked how many verses of Scripture we know that relate to the love of God. Next, how many verses do we know that relate to other attributes of God. Most people I asked said their lists were heavily weighted to the “love” side.

Is there a problem when we emphasize one character trait of God over the others? Yes! Although we struggle with God being a wrathful, jealous, and an angry at sin kind of God, failing to balance our understanding of Him may cause us to lose the sense of concern and urgency about the plight of those around us. While we may theoretically deny universalism, we may be practical universalists. We like to focus on the “but [God] is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), but forget verse 7:

the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Are you a functional universalist? Do your interactions with others represent a belief that apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ they are destined to spending an eternity in hell?

Take a look at this video by David Platt on the subject.

David Platt on Universalism from Vimeo.

Radical Grace

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We are into our second week of the church-wide study of Radical by David Platt. This week we have been considering the radical nature of grace. If you’ve been in church for any time you have heard the word used in relationship with salvation – “God’s saving grace.”  We might say it this way: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Ephesians 2:1-10 is perhaps the best, condensed passage that describes our need, God’s work and our response to God’s grace:

2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient.3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, 5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, 7 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10, HCSB)

Ray Pritchard suggests that the whole gospel message can be seen in just six words in this passage: You were— 2:1; But God— 2:4; Through faith—2:8. 1 [1]

“You were” dead in trespasses and sins. Because in Adam all have deviated from living according to what was revealed as the proper way of living and have failed to reach the mark of the true purpose of our lives, we all were (or still are) spiritually dead. A Scottish expositor related the event of a stranger in the county of Ayrshire dying and being buried in the church parish’s graveyard. It so greatly distressed the people of the parish that they posted a sign outside the cemetery that read:

“This graveyard is reserved exclusively for the dead who are living in this parish.” [2]

There are dead people walking all around you today (and you don’t have to have a “sixth sense” to see them.) Just as Adam was physically alive after he had sinned, yet spiritually dead, many around you are alive physically but dead spiritually. Note Paul says “you were.” Every individual must personally acknowledge his own sin and rebelliousness before God…admit that he is dead in his trespasses and sins. However, the “were” is good news for those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Our spiritual deadness is a thing of the past only because of the next phrase.

Thus, “But God” made us alive with Christ. Never has such a conjunction meant so much. When I looked up the conjunction “but,” I found this definition: a conjunction is a joiner, a word that connects parts of a sentence. There is no truer definition than this, in that God connected us with Him through Jesus’ death and resurrection. We are joined with Him as together with Christ we have been raised and seated in the heavens! And why… that for all eternity we might be on display as evidence of the immeasurable riches of His grace shown through the kindness of Christ Jesus’ substitutionary atonement. Nothing we did or could do merited such favor…it is all because of His mercy, love and grace.

Finally, “Through faith”  speaks of our response. Saving faith has been explained as “trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God.” [3]   It is not merely belief in facts but personal trust in Jesus to save.

Chuck Swindoll gives an excellent illustration to point out the difference between belief in facts and personal trust. Ann Seward, a resident of Portland, Oregon, was asked to co-star with high-wire artist Philippe Petit, who gained fame by crossing between the World Trade Center buildings. Petit was to walk on an eighty-foot wire between the Portland Center for the Performing Arts and the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with Seward on his back. High above the street, Seward placed her ninety-one pound life on the back of Petit and he successfully performed his high-wire act. Seward said that her performance had a lesson for those who watched from the street. “I think that one of the most beautiful things about the performance was that it took a lot of trust—absolute trust—to do that. I think in the world that is a very profound issue….Here it is—I’m putting my life in someone else’s hands and trusting the whole crowd not to do anything to distract him.” Swindoll gives this closing application:

Many of those who witnessed the performance “believed” that Petit could successfully complete the performance with someone on his back. But their belief was merely intellectual and did not feature the absolute trust and total commitment exhibited by Ann Seward. She expressed her belief by placing her very life in the hands of the artist. This is the kind of “belief” referred to in the words of Paul, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). This belief is not merely head knowledge; it is the response of a heart to the person of Christ saying, “I trust Your redeeming work to deliver me from sin and carry me safely to heaven.” [4]

What about you? Are you able to say with certainty that you were, but God and as a result of His grace, through faith you have placed your very life in Him? God’s amazing grace has the ability to take the deadest of sinners and make them alive for all eternity!

YOUR RESPONSE:

  • Have you trusted in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to take the penalty you deserved to pay?
  • As you consider your daily sphere of life, who do you know who is currently walking in spiritual deadness? Pray that God will give you opportunities to share the Good News of salvation with them, so that through faith they can experience salvation from sin and the certainty of eternal life with God.

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1  Pritchard, Ray from sermon “Amazing Grace”

2  Johnson, S. Lewis, from sermon “His Power, Our Salvation”

3  Grudem, W.A., Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Zondervan Publishing House, 1994. p. 710.

4  Swindoll, Charles, Zuck, Roy, Understanding Christian Theology, Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2003, p. 240-241.

Radical Abandonment

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On Sunday, we began a church-wide study of David Platt’s book, Radical. With the subtitle “Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream,” this book calls for a serious look at the level of abandonment to which Jesus’ early followers understood His call to mean.

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Mark 8:34, 35 (NIV)

This call to radical surrender is not the typical invitation heard in most U.S. churches. We would say, “It’s obvious that Jesus never took the Dale Carnegie class, How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Or, we seek to diminish its seriousness by rationalizing that “Jesus didn’t really mean you have to give up everything.” However, Jesus is  brutally honest. “Following me,” He says, means: deny your self-directed life, aspirations, and ambitions; take up an instrument of death and die to yourself; follow my footsteps as a humble servant. This is a radical departure from the way many of us live out our comfortable Christianity.

Every generation needs it own clarion call to return to the radical claims of Jesus, and it is often best made by ones living out that radical abandonment to the call of Christ. Late in the 4th century, just a few hundred years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Rome was officially Christian. No longer were Christians thrown to the lions for the entertainment of the populace, but there was still a blood-thirsty bent for amusement. The gladiatorial games now pitted those captured in war against one another in a fight to the death. Thousands crowded in arenas to see these spectacles.

At the time, a monk, called Telemachus, sensed that his isolated life of prayer, meditation and fasting in the desert was doing more to satisfy his own selfish love of God than to demonstrate a selfless love of God. It was revealed to him that if he was to serve God he must serve men. In order to do that, he must go to the cities where the need was, and he determined to go to Rome, the greatest of cities.

Upon arriving in Rome, he went to the stadium where eighty thousand people had gathered for their entertainment of gladiatorial combat. Appalled by the conflict, Telemachus jumped over the wall and came between two gladiators, separating them by his own hands and rebuking them for shedding innocent blood. He then reproved the crowd by saying, “Do not repay God’s mercy in turning away the swords of your enemies by murdering each other!” The crowd demanded that the games go on and began to hurl stones at the interloper. He was finally stabbed by a gladiator and died.

Fox’s Book of Martyrs concludes the account of Telemachus in this way:

His dress showed him to be one of the hermits who vowed themselves to a holy life of prayer and self-denial, and who were reverenced by even the thoughtless and combat-loving Romans. The few who knew him told how he had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage, to visit the churches and keep his Christmas at Rome; they knew he was a holy man, and that his name was Telemachus-no more. His spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted zeal he had tried to convince them of the cruelty and wickedness of their conduct. He had died, but not in vain. His work was accomplished at the moment he was struck down, for the shock of such a death before their eyes turned the hearts of the people: they saw the hideous aspects of the favorite vice to which they had blindly surrendered themselves; and from the day Telemachus fell dead in the Colosseum, no other fight of gladiators was ever held there.[1]

Edward Gibbon said of Telemachus, “His death was more useful to mankind than his life.” [2]  A martyr of the last century, Jim Elliot, expressed his understanding of abandonment for the cause of Christ: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” [3]

Does abandonment to Christ always lead to death? I think we see stories like this and shrink away from that kind of surrender because we fear the loss of property, ease, relationship and even life. We must remember that for every martyr there are perhaps thousands (even millions) who are ultimately influenced for all eternity and, in turn, carry out a life of abandonment without facing a horrific death. But, are you willing to abandon your life to the level to which Jesus called his original disciples?  Who will be the Telemachus or the Jim Elliot of this generation?

YOUR RESPONSE:

  • Have you ever found yourself bargaining with God as to the level or location of service  to which you’re willing to go?
  • What keeps you from total surrender?
  • As an immediate reference to his quote above, Jim Elliot added this verse to his journal entry: [I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so]* that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings (Luke 16:9). How are you wisely using your earthly possessions to store up treasures in heaven?

* Omitted in journal entry; included for context.

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1  Fox’s Book of Martyrs, The Last Roman “Triumph” online version.

2  Edward Gibbon,The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 3, p 210.

3 Elisabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty, Harper and Row (1958), p 108.

Tips for Refreshment

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Last week I wrote on the importance of refreshment and maintaining a regular time with God in honest recognition of His reign over your life.  Jesus found it necessary to withdraw to the lake, to the mountain, or beside the road to be alone with God. He needed rest and renewal in order to go back among the throngs of people. If he needed it, we need to make sure that we incorporate a time of refreshment into our busy lives. That doesn’t mean just laying around all day (although it may mean sleeping until you wake up on your own instead of by an alarm clock). But, we should purposefully center our rest and renewal around these suggested areas:

1)  A time to stay at home: Families are going in so many different directions today. Finding some time to recoup as a family by doing something special on a weekly basis helps to reconnect and refresh. You also model to your children the value of family time and the life-long, vital connections that are made early in life (remember the message of Cats in the Cradle).

2)  A time to read, study and write: I talked to someone the other day, who, in the process of writing out her Christian testimony, has been reminded of all the ways in which God was working in her life when she didn’t even realize it. This revelation brought a sense of excitement and joy. Reading Christian biographies and inspirational books will also buoy your spirit. Additionally, with life and societal changes always happening, there is the need to stay current and retool. Do you carve a niche in your schedule for reading, studying, writing, and concentrating on new subjects and new interests?

3)  A time to play and serve: Some playtime should be a part of renewal and rest. Playtime might include long hikes, participation in an enjoyable sport, unstructured playtime with the family, and trips to historic locations. It could also include an outreach work project, such as an emergency disaster project. Serving in ways out of our normal area of ministry is surprisingly energizing.

4)  A time to enjoy the beauty of life: Beauty in nature offers many benefits. Very beautiful scenes are often in quiet places. Beauty stimulates the senses. In such a setting, it is easy to get in tune with the Creator.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.
2 Day after day they pour out speech;
night after night they communicate knowledge

(Psalm 19:1-2, HCSB)

5)  A time for Bible study and prayer: This is a very important part of restoration. It can take place along with some of the other experiences at times (as in nature). This is a time to read those things that focus on praising God through inspirational books, poems, and hymns, including meditation and reflection.

These are only a few suggestions, but don’t neglect this vital area of your life. Medical science has demonstrated that the effects of rest are significant, indicating the great role that rest can play in our physical and emotional well-being.

Points to Ponder:

  • If you have a family at home, what are (or have been) your suggestions for ways in which your family has found refreshment together (board games, outdoor activities, camping, etc.) Leave comments!
  • What have you found to be the best way for you to find replenishment for body, soul and spirit?

Finding Refreshment

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Our Iowa heat wave has me reminiscing about the heat and humidity of my Tennessee, childhood summers. We had a two-story (split into four-levels) home with only two, window unit air conditioners —one in the dining room (2nd level) and the other in my parents’ top level bedroom.  I guess my father felt the units were strategically placed since cold air falls, but they really couldn’t keep up with the demands of Memphis summers. After some hard, outdoor play, I can remember heading in for a drink of water or Kool Aid and then lingering in front of the window unit. The cold air from condensation-laden vents came as a welcome relief from an afternoon of play outside.  Refreshed, I would head back out for some more games of baseball, kickball or army with my friends, Steve and Kendall.

What are you doing to find refreshment for your body, soul and spirit? I have received some unsolicited (but caring) advice about my need to make sure I have some times of refreshment built into my schedule. The fact of the matter is, we all need to make sure we have that refreshment…not as an excuse for laziness but as a way of re-energizing for service to the Lord. In Exodus 31, Moses concludes his time with God on Mt. Sinai and the Lord said this:

16 The Israelites must observe the Sabbath… 17 It is a sign forever between Me and the Israelites, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.

If God “rested and was refreshed,” might we not also need to experience the same?

The most essential and primary way to experience refreshment comes from repentance. Peter said in Acts 3:19:

Therefore repent and turn back, that your sins may be wiped out so that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Repentance from sins is a necessity for ongoing, unrepentant sin causes our fellowship with the Lord to be interrupted. Intimacy with God is compromised just as it is in a marriage when a spouse will not admit and make steps of restitution following an indiscretion. Thus, repentance may be your first step back to needed times of refreshment.

More on “refreshment” next time.

Points to Ponder

  • Are there any actions or attitudes in your life from which you need to turn in order that a floodgate of needed refreshment might open onto your life, enabling you to experience the presence of the Lord, again?
  • Think of a time of personal, spiritual refreshment. Did repentance precipitate the refreshment?