How Grace Enables Self-Control

Grace is instrumental in salvation. It also spurs us to righteous behavior. Scripture tells us that it is “the grace of God” that “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives” (Tit. 2:11–12). The idea that grace teaches self-control can seem a bit surprising. After all, if I’m freely forgiven of my sins by the grace of God, why resist sin? If there’s always more forgiveness on tap, why strive after righteousness?

The apostle Paul anticipated this reaction—“Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”—and immediately shot it down: “By no means!” he wrote. “We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Rom. 6:1–2) To Paul, the idea that we should keep sinning because of grace was silly, absurd, the equivalent of Bill Gates knocking off a 7-Eleven. Instead, forgiveness lays the groundwork for transformation.

THE POWERFUL PROSPECT OF FORGIVENESS

In high school I had a close friend who described himself as an atheist. When he told me he didn’t believe in God, I could only think of one biblical rejoinder: “The fool says in his heart ‘There is no God’” (Ps. 14:1). Since he was a lot stronger than me, and liked to fight, I kept the verse to myself.

I tried talking to him about my faith, but nothing seemed to get through to him. Nothing except for this: I described to him, as best I could, the experience of forgiveness. “There’s nothing like coming to God with all the bad things you’ve done and asking for Him to cleanse you,” I told him. “It’s like taking a shower after being dirty for a long time. You feel completely new, totally clean.”

He was silent.

“Hey, man. I don’t mean to preach at you,” I said.

“That doesn’t sound like preaching,” he replied looking off at something. “It doesn’t sound like preaching at all.”

I wasn’t much of an evangelist, but I got one thing right. There’s something powerful about the prospect of forgiveness, of being made clean. As the Presbyterian minister Henry Van Dyke said, “For love is but the heart’s immortal thirst to be completely known and all forgiven.” When you feel that forgiveness, the last thing you want to do is rush out and start sinning.

THE BEAUTY OF A BLANK SLATE

In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul gives a long list of “wrongdoers” who will not inherit the kingdom of God. The list includes some pretty despicable characters, including swindlers, drunks, thieves, and adulterers.

But before his readers could feel too superior, he added these words, “ . . . and that is what some of you were.” Those descriptions only applied to his readers in the past tense. Something had changed: “you were washed, you were sanctified” (6:11), Paul reminded them. In other words, because of the fact that they’d been forgiven, they had entered a whole new way of living.

The next verses unpack how “washed” people are to live, by “not [being] mastered by anything” and living free from sexual immorality. Holiness flows from forgiveness.

It’s a spiritual principle, and a psychological one. Researchers talk about the benefits of the “fresh start effect.” Basically it means that when we feel like we’ve been given a clean slate, our behavior improves.

That helps explain why people who use “temporal landmarks” like birthdays, the beginning of a new year, or even the beginning of the week to start pursuing a new goal make greater progress. They feel like they’ve been given a new start and they don’t want to mess it up. According to Francesca Gino, a behavioral scientist, “We feel more motivated and empowered to work hard toward reaching our goals when we feel like our past failures are behind us.”

That’s good news for Christians. We get the ultimate blank slate when we place our faith in Christ. Then we receive that blank slate over and over again. First when we come to Christ and receive a whole new life (2 Cor. 5:17), and then repeatedly as we repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

FALSE STARTS AND FRESH STARTS

Unfortunately, we don’t always take advantage of this blank slate. Or at least I don’t. When I mess up, I’m reluctant to confess my sins and ask God for forgiveness. Not only that, but I start avoiding my Bible and stop praying. In order words, I start avoiding God (as if I could).

I realize this makes no sense. I know God loves me unconditionally. But because of my actions, suddenly I feel like we’re not on talking terms. This strange avoidance behavior is always a mistake. When I fail to confess my sins, I’m more likely to sin again. What’s one more sin, I think. I’m already messing up.

Researchers have a name for this phenomenon too. They call it the “What-The-Hell Effect.” Basically, it means that after messing up, we tend to mess up even more. It was coined by dieting researchers who noticed that when their subjects had even small indiscretions (a bite of ice cream or one slice of pizza) it was followed by a full-on binge. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal explains this thinking behind this behavior.

Giving in makes you feel bad about yourself, which motivates you to do something to feel better. And what’s the cheapest, fastest strategy for feeling better? Often the very thing you feel bad about. . . . It’s not the first giving-in that guarantees the bigger relapse. It’s the feelings of shame, guilt, loss of control and loss of hope that follow the first relapse.10

BREAK THE CIRCLE OF SIN

I’m convinced this dynamic plagues my spiritual life as well. When I sin, the shame and guilt drive me away from God. I feel bad about myself, and in a cruel irony, I engage in more of the sin that made me feel bad in the first place.

When I confess my sins, the circle stops. I feel like I’ve hit the refresh button on my spiritual life. Suddenly I’m motivated to resist sin and pursue holiness. Wallowing in my guilt merely makes me sin more. Confession gives me a fresh start and I don’t want to mess it up.

It can be natural to think that feeling really bad about yourself is the way to improve your behavior. But piling on guilt is never the answer. It’s to keep diving back into grace.

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Taken from Your Future Self Will Thank You by Drew Dyck (©2019). Published by Moody Publishers. Used by permission.

Drew Dyck (M.A. in Theology) is an editor at Moody Publishers and the former managing editor of Leadership Journal. His work has been featured in USA Today, the Huffington Post, Christianity Today, and CNN.com. Drew is the author of Generation Ex-Christian and Yawning at Tigers. He lives with his wife Grace and their three children near Portland, Oregon. Connect with Drew at www.DrewDyck.com or follow him on Twitter @DrewDyck.

What the Wise Men Teach Us About How We Read the Bible

We all have one in our homes this time of year—a cute nativity scene. There’s baby Jesus, of course, right in the middle, flanked by Mary and Joseph, a collection of donkeys and sheep, a few shepherds, perhaps an angel above, and, last but not least, three wise men. Let’s talk about those wise men. The thing is, if your nativity scene has wise men in it, it’s wrong.

Let’s revisit the story.

Revisiting the Christmas Story

Mary, fully pregnant and ready to give birth, finds herself riding a donkey beside her faithful husband, Joseph, as they make their way to Bethlehem. After arriving, they find there’s no room for them in the local inn. But there is a manger, or stable, that has some room.

Having nowhere else to go, Mary and Joseph cozy up in the manger alongside what surely would have been a variety of animals. Once inside, Mary gives birth to her firstborn, a son. But not just any son. This was the very Son of God. They name him Jesus after having received earlier angelic instructions to do so.

Shortly after, angels appear to nearby shepherds and announce the good news that the Savior of the world has just been born. A choir of angels appears and explodes into song: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Then, just as quickly as they came, the angels disappeared.

Awe-struck, the shepherds head off to Bethlehem to see this newborn boy. Once they arrive, they find the boy lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Then, the wise men see a bright, shining star and start heading east, following it towards Jerus—not so fast.

The Case of the Missing Wise Men

This is where things go wrong. We assume the wise men were there at the manger because their story directly follows the birth narrative of Jesus in chapter 2 of Matthew’s Gospel. But our assumption leads us astray because the Bible never says the wise men were present at the birth. Instead, it says they visited Jesus when he was about 2 years old.

We know this from the tragic and gruesome details of Herod’s slaughter of young boys in Matthew 2. The wise men, in an epically unwise move, go to King Herod in Jerusalem to ask where this baby boy, the new “King of the Jews,” has been born.

Immediately sensing the threat to his throne and an opportunity to snuff out this newcomer, Herod plays along with the wise men. He tells them to go to Bethlehem and find this new king, then report his location so he could come and kill him. The wise men did find the baby boy, and yes, they brought him gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh. But they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they went home a different way.

Herod, realizing he’s been duped by the wise men, does what all dictators do when things don’t go their way—he starts killing people. Since he didn’t know which little boy to have killed, he orders every boy age 2 and under to be murdered.

This is how we know when the wise men came to visit Jesus. Herod deduced the time when the star appeared, then calculated how old the baby king would be. See for yourself:

“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” –Matt. 2:16

So now you know your nativity is wrong. At the end of the day, I’m not really concerned with whether you have the magi in your manger.

What I am concerned about is what this error reveals about how we read the Bible. In particular, it reveals three common problems with how we approach Scripture: we don’t read it for ourselves, we assume other people have read it for themselves, and we don’t see what we read.

We Don’t Read the Bible for Ourselves

Bible engagement is, to put it bluntly, abysmal, even within the church. You might even call it an epidemic. In American culture where unfettered access to the Bible exists in a variety of formats, more than half of Americans have read little or none of the Bible. After their recent study of Bible reading, LifeWay Research concluded that Americans are fond of the Bible but don’t actually read it.

Scott McConnell, Executive Director of LifeWay Research, highlights the problem, saying, “Even among worship attendees less than half read the Bible daily. The only time most Americans hear from the Bible is when someone else is reading it.”

The reason most of us think the wise men were at the manger is that most of us haven’t read the Bible for ourselves. We haven’t exposed ourselves to the text first-hand, let alone examined it. Most Americans seem content to live in Old Testament times where God’s Word had to come through the mouth of a prophet. Francis Chan writes,

“A mentor of mine lives in India. Last year, he called me on the phone crying, distraught over the state of the church in America. ‘It seems like the people in America would be content to take a selfie with Moses. Don’t they know they can go up the mountain themselves? Why don’t they want to go up the mountain?’”

One of the reasons we don’t want to go up the mountain is because we assume the people we hear the Bible from went up themselves, which leads us to our second problem.

We Assume Other People Have Read the Bible for Themselves

Millions of people missing a small detail of the manger scene is only possible when those people assume others have read the Bible closely and will tell them what they need to know. Perhaps this is why “good Bible teaching” is most important to American churchgoers—we need good Bible teaching or we won’t get any Bible for the week.

Whether it’s teaching in a weekend service, small group, or Bible study, we assume the people talking have read the Bible for themselves. That assumption leads us to believe we can trust what they say about it. And even when they say something that sounds off, we haven’t read enough of the Bible to know where to check their understanding.

One of the big takeaways from LifeWay’s recent study was that “people who really like the Bible don’t necessarily really read the Bible.” If the statistics are true—and if we care deeply about eternity—we would be wise not to assume people talking about the Bible have actually read it.

But what about those of us who do read the Bible? How have we read the birth narratives in Matthew 2 and Luke 2 without noticing the time gap between the shepherds and wise men? Because even when we read the Bible, we don’t see what we read.

We Don’t See What We Read

Of the small percentage of Americans who read the Bible, an even smaller percentage know how. Literacy, or knowing how to read, is not the only skill needed to read a two-thousand-year-old collection of books written in ancient cultures by people from a world that looked vastly different than ours. A solid grasp of hermeneutics, or the science of interpreting ancient documents, is crucial for people in 2018 to read a book written in Rome or Israel thousands of years earlier.

At a basic level, everyone in the church should have access to other, more mature believers who can show them how to rightly handle the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). The value in teaching something like hermeneutics is in helping Christians properly interpret what they’re reading in the Scriptures. The real goal, though, of hermeneutics is to train people to see the Bible.

Most of us read things at such a speed that we don’t notice much of what’s there. We miss context, innuendo, previous references, etc. We see so little because we don’t give ourselves time to look. We read through passages so we can check the box on our reading plan, or swipe right in our Bible app.

If we want to learn to read the Bible, we must learn to see the Bible. That takes time and effort. But the reward is like sweet, like honey in the mouth (Ezek. 3:3).

A Way Forward

Do you need to throw away your nativity if it has wise men? No. But you might need to chart a way forward with your own Bible reading habit. There are a few ways to get started.

First, read the Bible. Just read it. You won’t learn to love the Bible until you learn to read the Bible. So, tolle lege—take up and read!

Next, find someone to teach you how to read it well. If that’s not an option, make use of one of the great online resources available, like David Platt’s Secret Church session on How to Study the Bible, or Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s class on Interpreting and Teaching the Bible.

Finally, pray for God to give you a hunger for the Bible. Ultimately, we don’t read the Bible because we don’t delight in reading it. Pray for that delight as you continue to immerse yourself in the wonders of the Word.

Please don’t put your eternity in someone else’s hands. Read the Bible for yourself.

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Grayson Pope (M.A., Christian Studies) is a husband and father of three, and the Managing Web Editor at Gospel-Centered Discipleship. He serves as a writer and editor with Prison Fellowship. For more of Grayson’s writing check out his website, or follow him on Twitter.

Fighting for Silence in a World that Never Stops Shouting

I’m never alone. Every minute of every day, I carry a device that tethers me to the world. It’s a silent loudspeaker, buzzing its notifications. With a touch, I’m in the conversation. Even in my solitude, there is no silence. Even in my silence, there is no solitude. I’m not sure I agreed to this arrangement. But I have indeed bought into it. The bill is connected to my bank account. It couldn’t be easier to be united. Now, like so many, I’m wondering how to unplug.

God didn’t create me to be alone, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need solitude from time to time. The digital age creates space for everything except the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude. But my soul depends on it.

Is there an app for that?

Getting Away

A need for connection comes pre-installed in our soul’s software. So although something as simple as getting away doesn’t sound hard, our very nature pushes against it. We need scheduled maintenance, and it takes an override code to get inside. What’s the code? Silence and solitude.

Jesus was the most whole human ever to walk the earth. If he needed something, how can I say I don’t need the same? On multiple occasions, the scriptures show us that Jesus slipped away. He intentionally withdrew from his work. He went away from the crowds. He left his friends. He needed time to be alone with his Father.

The connection between Jesus and the Father wasn't breaking up, but mine often does. I go through dead zones, and when I look down, it’s not God’s end of the line that broke up. It’s mine. My hardware fails. The battery dies. I need a recharge.

My instinct is to head to social media for a recharge. Maybe I need a gospel pick-me-up from Twitter. Maybe I need an inspirational image-quote from Instagram. Maybe I need to catch up with friends on Facebook. Maybe. But maybe I need the maker of my soul first. I need his sustaining presence.

I need to get away with my Father.

Solitude

It starts with solitude. It can happen at home, but it probably won’t. For many of us, we must be pushed out. Thankfully, we have biblical precedent. It was the Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness to begin his ministry (Matt. 4:1). And though I don’t necessarily desire him to take me through a time of testing, I want him to lead me to solitude regardless of the reason.

But it’s only solitude if we discount the omnipresence of God. I may be alone physically, but when the Spirit takes me away, my solitude becomes communion. The online world offers the same deal, but what I find there often leaves me hungrier than before. Shouldn’t a meal so large make me full? Why then does it leave me starving for more? The phantom presence the screen offers is no match for the personal presence of God.

And that’s where the problem arises. The digital world follows me into my alone time with God. It bursts in like an unwelcome but eager guest. And I invite it in. I pull up a chair. I ask for its thoughts. I draw out disruption. Really, I’m no different than the leaders Ezekiel witnessed in the temple's inner court—surrounded by the presence of God with my back toward the mercy seat and my face toward the east, worshiping the wrong thing (Ezek. 8:16).

Satan doesn’t need to use stones as bread substitutes. When I carry the digital world into my alone time, I carry all the ammunition he needs for every temptation. Man cannot live by bread alone. Nor can he live by pixels alone.

Silence

Solitude should lead to silence. But in the age of hot takes, silence is frowned upon. When silence is presumed as apathy, we’re quick to speak out of the shallow end of our wisdom pool. Deep, sustained thought occurs best in silent meditation, but we often don’t have time for that. Our voice must join the cacophony of the masses now. How else will we be validated? Justification by claim is the doctrine of our day.

But God’s ways are not man’s ways. God does not look upon our silence as a problem. In our hustle, we often don’t give him the space to speak deeply to our soul. We see silence as weakness. God sees silence as openness. He fills it with his voice. In the beginning, God called life from the void. He spoke over formless mass and spun the world into action (Gen. 1). Since our creation, it's not a lack of speaking that strains our connection. It's a lack of listening, which often results from constant talking. Pride always talks. But humility knows when to shut up. The elevation of ourselves, as always, comes home to roost.

Today, I’m too busy for silence. People need my voice. But it’s not my voice that upholds the universe. Jesus’ does that (Heb. 1:3). Have I stopped to listen?

Israel discovered what happens when speaking overtakes listening. It left them speechless, wandering prophet-less for four hundred years. Their incessant talking led to the cessations of God’s. Am I in danger of the same?

Thankfully, Israel heard from God again, because his steadfast love brought a new word. Out of the silence grew the heavenly hosts singing “Glory to God in the highest.” The silent night was filled with the newborn Christ.

That's just like God to break the silence with his grace. When we, like the Psalmist, quiet our souls (Ps. 131:2), God's voice grows loud. When the world feels overwhelming, we can be silent. God fights for us (Exod. 14:14). No wonder Jeremiah, in a moment of clarity, broke his lament to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord (Lam. 3:26). As the Lord fills his temple, silent awe fills his people. (Hab. 2:20). The Lamb broke the seventh seal, and heaven was silent for half an hour (Rev. 8:1). It’s a hard truth to believe in a world that never stops talking, but when we fall silent before God, God breaks our silence into worship.

The Nearness of God

God came to Moses on Mount Horeb (Exod. 3). He came to David in the wilderness (1 Sam. 23). He spoke to Elijah in a whisper (1 Kgs. 19:11-13). He took Paul to vacant Arabia (Gal. 1:17). He revealed the heavens to John on the Island of Patmos. Silence and solitude are God’s ways of speaking to his people. When he draws us away from the crowds, he draws us to himself. God speaks loudest when we get to where we can’t hear anyone else.

These men didn’t necessarily choose their silence or their solitude. God chose it for them. They had much to say to the watching world, but first they needed to be alone with God. That’s not the road I want. It’s too uncomfortable for me. But out of the silence and solitude of his people, God changed the course of history. What might he do with mine? What might he do with yours?

The world will still be turning when we come back from our solitude. But maybe we won’t turn the same. Maybe we’ll radiate like Moses. Maybe we’ll have confidence like David. Maybe we’ll trust God like Elijah. Maybe we’ll know Jesus like Paul. Maybe we’ll see heaven like John.

Life is not about being informed, but about being eternally transformed. The gospel is not a call to doing before it’s a call to being. God justifies us in Christ. It’s in silence and solitude where that is often confirmed the deepest. Our technological age puts the pressure on us to produce, but God took that pressure off at the cross. Our digital age pushes us to the question, “What shall I do to be saved?” When my action feels like the only way, I need the reminder of Gerhard O. Forde.

“We are justified freely, for Christ’s sake, by faith, without the exertion of our own strength, gaining of merit, or doing of works. To the age-old question, ‘What shall I do to be saved?’ the confessional answer is shocking: ‘Nothing! Just be still; shut up and listen for once in your life to what God the Almighty, creator and redeemer, is saying to his world and to you in the death and resurrection of his Son! Listen and believe!’”

There’s not an app for that. There’s only a call. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isa. 30:15).

Israel was unwilling to wait when such swift horses were at hand. When cyber-speed offers so much more, are we willing to stick to the ancient roads?

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David McLemore is an elder at Refuge Church in Franklin, Tennessee. He also works for a large healthcare corporation where he manages an application development department. He is married to Sarah, and they have three sons. Read more of David’s writing on his blog, Things of the Sort.

Relax, Jesus is Already Proud of You

I enjoy running and have learned and experienced much with God as a result of this rhythm incorporated into my life. I once ran in a half marathon in Nashville, and the experience provided a glimpse of the gospel for me. The main reason that I was running this particular race was to redeem the first not-so-great experience I had at that same race, years earlier. The first time I ran it, I’d never run a half marathon. Although I set some goals that I was able to reach, it wasn’t the best experience because of the physical toll it took on me. So, after about six years, the opportunity presented itself for me to take part in the race again.

Leading up to this second half marathon, I trained hard to make sure I could meet my goals and exceed my time from the previous race. Along the way, I developed some pain in my Achilles tendon, which led to an interruption in my training. Still, I didn’t want to drop out of the race. Instead I made the decision to rest for a few weeks, hoping that would give my body the boost it need to run.

The morning of the race, I was filled with anxiety. I hadn’t run very much in the month leading up to that day because of my injury, and I wasn’t sure how my body would respond. I knew it was a risk to have missed out on the weeks of training, but I counted on the hope that letting my body heal was enough to get me through the 13.1 miles.

JUST FINISH!

The countdown began, and our group took off. I was feeling good. I began to pace myself behind a man and his son who were running together. They were the perfect rhythm, and it was doubly motivating because the son was at the most thirteen years old. I remember thinking, “If I can’t even keep up with a thirteen-year-old, I’m in big trouble.”

At about mile six, I started feeling my body betraying me. But, as any athlete knows, that’s when it’s time to kick it into another gear. That’s what I did. I kicked it into the “JUST FINISH” gear. It was very humbling. I don’t take for granted that many would be happy to complete a half marathon at all. I had some pretty aggressive goals and had even used words like, “I’ll be extremely disappointed” when asked about not meeting my expected finish time. I had set a pretty hard line on my definition of success. Not only did I not finish at my goal time, but I finished embarrassingly far behind.

Knowing the goals that I set and how hard I was working to achieve them, my wife was incredibly supportive. She continuously encouraged me when I was feeling disappointed in my body. On the day of the race, when I was walking out the door at 5:00 am, while everyone was asleep, I saw that my wife had written and taped a sign to the front door.

The sign said, “You can do it, babe! We are proud of you already!”

When I crossed the finish line after struggling and stumbling through the physical pain and emotional disappointment of my failure, the remembrance of that sign entered my mind.

‘I’M ALREADY PROUD OF YOU’

Whether I accomplished my goals, won the race, or didn’t even step foot on the course, I was already loved. My value had nothing to do with what I did in the marathon. This letter was a picture of the gospel. “I’m already proud of you.” Before I had done anything, before I even stepped to the starting line, she was already satisfied with me.

In Christ, this is how God views us. He is pleased with us, not because of the work we do or the way we finish. It’s because he doesn’t see us—he sees Jesus.

This reality, this love so unfathomable, leads me to a feeling of celebration, relief, and great joy! At first sight of my wife and son after the race, I welled up with tears and couldn’t stop smiling. My little boy spotted me and was calling out, “Hip, hip, hooray!” It reminded me of what it means for me to understand on a daily basis the great rescue I’ve experienced by the work of Jesus.

A good friend and mentor Keas Keasler once said, “The most theologically appropriate response to the resurrection is to dance.” I simply cannot argue with that. Understanding the gospel has reshaped the way that I live and rest.

THE GOSPEL SETS US FREE

The implications of understanding the truth of the gospel in our lives cannot be understated. For so long, I only understood the significance of the story of Jesus on the cross as meaning that when I die, I will get to go to heaven. It’s almost as though I approached life in a way that was apathetic about my current reality. I was grateful for God’s sacrifice on my behalf, but I was just hoping for the best as things played out before me.

Preaching the gospel to myself and studying the Scriptures led me to a personal awakening in light of the work of Christ. Jesus intended that we would experience the fullness of joy and life in Him on earth now, not only after death. Jesus’ words continually point to this message. John 10:10 says that He came to give us “abundant life.” In John 8:36, He reminds us that if He sets us free, we are “free indeed.” I had been dishonoring the finished work of Jesus by attempting to pay for my sin through my self-righteous life, when it had already been paid for by Him.

The central message of Jesus is that of the kingdom of God. In Matthew 4:23 it says, “He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.” The significance of this idea cannot be understated. God intended for us, as His followers, to be intentional to live into this message. The most vivid picture is found in Matthew 6:33 when He says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” As we consider what it means to respond to His instruction, we can be encouraged that He is with us as we move forward.

KINGDOM LIVING

We don’t need to be convinced that our world is a broken place. Politically, racially, economically, and culturally, our world is out of rhythm. In Romans 8:22 it says, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” We all long for things to be the way they were in the beginning, at creation.

But, we receive a beautiful promise in the book of Revelation: The One who is seated on the throne says to John in a vision that He is making all things new again (21:5)! The most amazing thing about this is that God intends for us to join Him in the work of the renewal of all things. Jesus even instructs His followers to pray along these lines: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9–10).

In this verse, Jesus teaches us to ask that earth would look like heaven now. When we pray for and look at our neighborhoods through these lenses, we remember that God desires to “reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross” (Col 1:20) Or as author N. T. Wright says, “We are called to be part of God’s new creation, called to be agents of that new creation here and now.” We, as the family of God, get to join Him in this beautiful work!

Matthew 13:44 says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” For most of my life as a follower of Jesus, I wouldn’t have used the word “joy” to describe the condition of my heart. So much of my lack of understanding of the finished work of Jesus kept me from seeing God’s intention for my heart and life. Jesus Himself says in John 17:13 that He desires that His joy may be in us to the full.

RESTING IN OUR TREASURE

To know that this discovery of the true treasure has reshaped everything about the way that the man in the above parable will live is a picture of the real response to the gospel. He is willing to forsake all else to give himself to the purposes of simply being with the treasure.

One of the most significant indicators of whether we’ve begun to give ourselves to the understanding and response to soul rest is if we are displaying the fruit of joy in our lives. When we know and understand the magnificent, mysterious, radical, and miraculous love and grace of Jesus, we will find our hearts bursting with the joy of the Lord.

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Content taken from Soul Rest: Reclaim Your Life. Return to Sabbath by Curtis Zackery, Kirkdale Press (June 6, 2018), lexhampress.com.

Curtis "CZ" Zackery is perhaps best known for his deep empathy and contagious passion for the gospel, which defies barriers of age, ethnicity, and religion. Whether teaching, speaking, or writing, CZ provides a perspective on the gospel that is raw, accessible, and relevant. Curtis has served in various ministry and leadership roles over the last 15 years―including church planting, pastoring, and speaking on rest, the kingdom, and the beauty of the gospel. Curtis, his wife Monique, and two sons, Noah and Micah, currently live in Franklin, TN. Learn more at curtiszackery.com.

Wrongly Handling the Word of Truth

I still remember my first hermeneutics class, where I learned how to interpret the Bible. We were required to take one through my university. I was not excited to spend a semester learning what I assumed I already knew. I recall being stunned as I learned that I was far from reading my Bible correctly! I quickly found that I knew nothing of the context from which any of the biblical stories came from, nor had I ever even taken the time to look for contextual clues through careful study. Questions like, “Where does this passage occur in the book?” or “Who is the author speaking to?” had never crossed my mind. But once I learned some basic Bible study tools, everything seemed new and no text felt off-limits or unapproachable.

Recently, Crossway released new research and infographics that revealed people’s bible study habits. As a Bible teacher, I was shocked to see how many books of the scriptures go completely unread because they're hard to understand.

With countless Bible studies are available for churchgoers, this shouldn’t be something we have to grapple with. Yet biblical illiteracy remains pervasive among us.

Perhaps that's because we teachers too often assume people understand the importance of Bible study. Why should people learn to study the Bible? After all, it's difficult to understand ancient cultures and multiple genres.

WHY WE SHOULD STUDY THE BIBLE

Why do we want our people to study the Bible? Because the Bible yields its treasure to those who dig for it. Too often we take a shallow approach to reading Scripture: we want the application without the work, the easy-to-grasp imperatives without the hearty parables, the cozy promises without the uncomfortable truths. Christians should study the Bible to know God deeply. It is a book filled with the glories that teach, reproof, correct, and train us (1 Tim. 3:16), but it is ultimately a book about God and what he is like (Luke 24:27).

As G. K. Beale’s popular work states, “We become what we behold, we become what we worship.” We are formed by the things we do, by the liturgies we participate in, and one of these things that can form us into disciples of his words is the careful study of Scripture. This is why love must be what drives us to the text. Then our study will formational instead of just educational. Disciples are, by definition, learners, and that learning should change transfer across creed and into conduct. Doctrine must motivate practice. Truth has to move from our head to our hearts and actions.

As we seek to live our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel (Phil. 1:27), our answer is to submit to be shaped by the author of life abundant. His words and his Spirit given to us are what guide us, as they point us consistently back to be like Christ.

A CALL TO BIBLICAL LITERACY

I shouldn’t have had to wait until a hermeneutics course to have at least some tools to study Scripture. Christian universities don’t bear the weight of training church members in biblical literacy—churches do. My local church should have equipped me with the basic tools for reading, understanding, and applying the foundational text of our faith.

Biblical literacy helps us more clearly recognize the gospel as it is reflected across all of Scripture. Even in portions of the Old Testament where it seems the difference between their culture and ours is too foreign and unfamiliar; Jesus, covenantal love and grace have abounded since the beginning. And that affects how we read scripture as a whole.

WRONGLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH

Many of us could tell horror stories of passages being skewed, and the marks the false interpretations leave on the lives they touched. Books like Finding the Love of Jesus from Genesis to Revelation by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin unpack the many ways we have tried and failed to read God’s Word. You will no doubt find your reading habits implicated in some way, just like mine were.

But we can’t press on in learning to study if we don’t first know what we’re doing wrong. If being told that your way of studying and understanding has been wrong causes you a twinge of pain, this may be because it has become an idol in your own way of making Jesus out to be who you’d prefer him to be, rather than who he actually is presented to be in Scripture.

Hold fast, friends. Don’t let this warning deter you from stepping foot into what he has to offer you in his Word.

So many resources are readily available to understand the context and background from where the words of Scripture were written as well as resources on how to see meaning and application from them. Books like the aforementioned Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin, Asking the Right Questions by Matthew Harmon, and One-to-One by David Helm all outline helpful ways to approach the text. Online resources like stepbible.org, blueletterbible.com, and luminabible.org aid with things like cross-references and comparing translations of the Bible. Websites like bibleodyssey.org and thebibleproject.com can give you a feel for the history of the people and the literary structures within the book you may be reading.

TAKE UP YOUR SWORD

Teaching your people that these resources are easily accessible to them is a comfort, and helping them to test and discern these resources is so fruitful. A Sunday morning understanding of the Bible is simply not enough for the battle that wages from Monday to Saturday. We need to be able to readily approach scripture each day of the week.

There are a lot of voices out in our world, and we desperately need a whole body fighting together—and that means each of us must know how to fight. You wouldn’t send soldiers into combat without them knowing how to use their weapons; likewise, we shouldn’t send believers into the world ill-equipped to wield the double-edged sword of the word they have been handed (Heb. 4:12). Together, rightly handling the truth, we can be church bodies filled with the true and good news of the gospel, as seen page after page in God’s Word, and this should make a difference not only within our churches but in the world around us.

When we know how to read and reflect on Scripture, the Bible studies we lead and the discussions we have gain greater depth. We begin to see how a devotional that shies away from hard texts limits and stifles our spiritual growth.  We see how shallow study gives a limited view of the magnificent depths of our great God!

Most importantly, though, Scripture provides us with hope. Scripture shows us the gospel. The Torah, the Prophets, the Gospels, the Epistles, Revelation all point to knowing and treasuring the triune God. To know that God has spoken to our hearts and minds through his inspired Word ought to be a comfort to us. Knowing how to approach passages in their context and apply them faithfully to our lives shows us how to really recognize the hope we have in Christ. The more clearly we can read and glean truth from God’s Word, the more hope can take root in our hearts.

Christian, learning to read the Bible is ultimately up to you since each one of us will one day give an account to God of how we spent our days. I implore you: learn to rightly handle the Word of truth. Learn to study the good book for yourself. Don’t give up when there are so many tools to help you learn. Don’t give up when there are pearls on every page.

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Alexiana Fry (M. Div.) is a wife and associate Women’s Director at Crossroads Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her passion and call are to see the church make whole disciples, pursuing the Gospel in the everyday mundane of life. She also finds herself to be highly caffeinated and blogging regularly at mygivingofthanks.com.

A Recipe for Gospel-Centered Prayer

I’m a serial people-fixer. As a pastor, husband, and father, I want to see the people I love grow in their faith, make wiser decisions, and feel closer to Jesus.

I listen to people, give suggestions, recommend books, point out errors in thinking, and help them strategize. If they just get what I’m saying and take my advice, I tell myself, then everything will be fine.

Every now and then, someone takes my advice and things get better. But other times, whether someone takes the advice or not, their life just stays the same—or sometimes gets worse.

You probably experience the same thing with people in your church or family. You feel like you listen to the same problems over and over again, and give what seems like wise counsel—but week after week, nothing changes.

When people aren’t “fixed,” I get annoyed with God or the people I’m trying to help because I followed what I thought was the right formula and it just didn’t work.

Over the last couple of years, God has been showing me why I get so frustrated, and why my attempts to fix people keep failing. It’s because I can’t change people.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU CAN’T CHANGE PEOPLE

I can’t make someone love God more. I can’t make someone love their spouse more. I can’t even make myself do those things. That power belongs to God and God alone.

So what can we do for the people we love? Pray for them.

I know—you already know that. You understand prayer is important and it’s something we should do for those we love. But are you doing it? Are you actually praying for the people in your church or community by name? Actually begging God to change them?

For a long time, I wasn’t.

It wasn’t because I didn’t care. It was because I didn’t really know how.

Maybe that’s where you are. You love the people in your life and genuinely want them to change. You’d like to pray for them, but every time you do it seems like you’re bringing up the same minor details about their lives and asking God to make them a little bit happier.

That’s what it used to feel like to me. But one day God, in His grace, brought me to the book of Ephesians and showed me what it looks like to pray for the people I love.

PAUL’S RECIPE FOR GOSPEL-CENTERED PRAYER

In the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul wrote what has become for me and many others a model prayer for those we love—people we want to see changed by the power of the gospel. I’ve come to think of it as a recipe for gospel-centered prayer. Here it is:

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe ...” (Eph. 1:15-19a)

Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to taste the fullness of a relationship with Christ. If an abundant life with Christ is the meal Paul hopes they’ll experience, his prayer is that their eyes would be enlightened to three different flavors of that meal: hope, riches, and greatness.

STEP 1: START WITH HOPE

The first ingredient in gospel-centered prayer is that the people we want to see transformed would know the hope to which they are called in Christ. That hope is eternal life in heaven and restoration here on earth. God didn’t just save us from something; he also saved us for something.

Many times, believers come to faith in Christ because they want to secure their eternity in heaven. That’s a very real concern. But at times Christians overplay the eternal aspect of salvation, leaving believers content to coast into eternity without ever realizing the fullness of life in Christ today. We should pray for ourselves and our fellow believers to see that God has redeemed our future and our present.

If people get that they will not only spend eternity with Jesus but that they can actually experience life with him today, they will live differently. The greatest acts in the history of our faith have been carried out by men and women whose hope was fixed on Jesus. If you want to see someone’s life transformed, pray for God to open their eyes to the hope to which they’ve already been called.

STEP 2: ADD THE FULL AMOUNT OF RICHES

Now it’s time to add the second ingredient: “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” The first few times I read this I totally missed whose inheritance Paul was talking about. I assumed it was referring to the believers’ inheritance, but I was misreading the pronouns. Paul prayed that the believers would know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints.

What can God possibly inherit? The hardest people to buy gifts for are those who have enough money to buy everything they want. What do you get the guy that already has everything? Here’s the crazy answer: you and me—the “saints.”

We are God’s glorious inheritance. That means God expectantly waits for the day when he inherits you and the rest of his adopted sons and daughters.

I work from home now, but I used to work in an office most of the week. My wife once told me our three children would sometimes stare out the window, eagerly anticipating the moment when I pulled in the driveway. They were longing for the moment when they could rush to the back door, throw their arms around me, and welcome me home.

Did you know that God feels that way about you?

Knowing God is giddy to spend eternity with you changes how you live and think. Pray for the people you love to truly know that love God has for them.

STEP 3: STIR IN THE IMMEASURABLE GREATNESS OF GOD’S POWER

The final ingredient in Paul’s gospel-centered prayer is “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.” So many of us, myself included, feel so insignificant and powerless to do anything remarkable for God. We want to make a difference with our lives, but don’t see anything special about our skills or talents. That couldn’t be more wrong.

Right after Paul prays for his friends’ eyes to be opened to the immeasurable greatness of God’s power, he reminds them this power is the same power God “worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20).

Think about that. The power God gives to each believer is the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand of God.

Do you believe that same power is in you? Do the people in your church or your life think that power is in them? If you lived like that were true, how would it change your heart? How would it change the world?

Pray for those you love to realize the power of the Spirit of God. Pray they would live in the Spirit instead of just reading about him.

CONCLUSION

The three flavors of a life lived fully with Christ are the hope to which we have been called, the riches of God’s inheritance in his people, and the greatness of God’s power for those who believe.

The Holy Spirit who inspired Paul’s words knows tasting a relationship with Jesus is the only way people will ever give their lives to a relationship with Jesus. We won’t experience that relationship without a heart transformation. And we can’t experience a transformed heart without tasting the only thing which has the power to transform it.

Grayson Pope (M.A., Christian Studies) is a husband and father of three, and the Managing Web Editor at Gospel-Centered Discipleship. He serves as a writer and editor with Prison Fellowship. For more of Grayson’s writing check out his website, or follow him on Twitter.

Break Free from Bite-Sized Bible Study

In a well-intentioned effort to motivate daily Bible reading, the church has attempted to make the Bible more accessible. Apps and devotionals aim to make the Bible easier to consume and digest. Sermons are preached at the microscope level. Bible reading plans help us achieve a reading goal in desirable time frames. “Verse of the Day” notifications push morsels of the Word our way. While there is certainly value in these efforts, we cannot deny the problem they also create, namely, that our Bibles have become bite-sized. I’m afraid we have grown content with that measly portion and have lost our wonder at the whole feast. We’re so caught up in the paragraphs that we are falling out of love with the Story.

Has your bite-sized Bible grown your love for God’s Word? Has it led to more consistent and meaningful Bible reading? Maybe it has for you. But what I’ve found in my own life and in conversations with many of my Christian friends is that it has hardly improved anything. The attainability of only having one chapter to read tomorrow morning isn’t motivating us to feast on the Word.

There has to be another approach that makes for a more worthwhile time in the Word and makes us want to get out of bed to read about it. I believe the Story, treated as a story, is the key. Reading large portions of Scripture in one sitting is right and necessary and will increase the breadth and depth of our knowledge of God.

THE LIMIT OF BUSY-NESS

The notion of reading large swaths of Scripture as opposed to more “bite-sized” pieces may scare you. After all, there are only twenty-four hours in our days; eight of those are spent asleep; another eight or more are spent at work. Most of us probably already feel the lack of margin in our lives—it’s all we can do to fit in a five-minute devotional.

Please understand, I am not oblivious to your busy-ness. I am learning what it means to be busy as each week passes. In the past few months, I have watched both my family and my job expand. Adding a baby and new pastoral responsibilities to my plate have me wondering if they make bigger plates! When the baby will not stop crying and the meetings and deadlines begin to pile up, Scripture reading is not naturally at the forefront of my mind. I sympathize with you feeling like you’re trying to manage life with whatever Bible you can fit in whenever it seems to happen.

With that said, I do believe it would be wise to get a little more honest about how busy we are—and perhaps even better, if busy is best. Our Ace of Spades for getting out of anything is that we’re too busy. But the fascinating truth about time is that everyone has the same amount of it—24 hours—each day. There are solutions to recover healthy time in God’s Word in the face of our busy-ness problem if we are willing to face them.

TAKING THE LIMITS OFF OF SCRIPTURE

The fewer constraints and limitations we place on the Word, the better we will understand because we begin to read it the way it was intended to be read. How, in a practical sense, can we begin to reduce the limits we impose on Scripture?

First, at a macro level, we need to know the Story of Scripture as opposed to a few plot points. We must feast continually, not snack here and there. When we begin to see Scripture less as a hodgepodge of spiritual insights and more as an ordered revelation from God, we’ll realize that we need to know the Story.

We should then think about how exactly we read the Word. We are tempted, from the get-go, to start with one verse, one paragraph, one chapter. Why not read, however, until we feel there is a natural literary break? Why not, for example, read the whole book of Hebrews? It only takes about 45 minutes.¹ Go even further: What if you read the entire book of Hebrews 45 minutes each day, five times in one week? Don’t you believe your understanding of the whole book of Hebrews would be much improved? But if you committed to a chapter a day, it would take you two full weeks to get through it just once.

A special note for those that preach: we should help our congregation approach the Bible with this emphasis on widening our reading. Expository preaching is wonderful and important. The “microscopic” view of the text is necessary. But microscopes don’t help us see in the same way telescopes do. We need both views of Scripture; one that examines and investigates and determines, and another that searches and finds and marvels. Preach large portions of Scripture. Better yet, let Scripture preach in your stead. Help your congregation see how a passage connects the dots somewhere. Help them see that this small passage fits into a much larger Story.

Finally, we must confront our busy-ness. The first step forward here is to realize that we are not as busy as we think. Many of us can fix our “too busy” problem immediately if, for example, we would simply wake up thirty minutes earlier, spend thirty fewer minutes on social media, or listen to Scripture for thirty minutes of our commute to or from work. The second nudge would be to consider if we are indeed too busy, and what needs to be removed from our plate in order to make room for meaningful time spent in the Word. This may require small, subtle changes, like better time management or better planning. It also may require radical changes, like finding a job that better serves your spiritual disciplines. After all, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul?

INEFFICIENT TO GOD’S GLORY

Overall, our Bible reading habits are most in need of the freedom to be inefficient, untidy, drawn out, even wasteful. In a culture that demands we treat everything as Martha would, Jesus asks us to have the heart of Mary, choosing “the good portion” for our day (Lk. 10:38-42).

We truly cannot live this Christian life with any zeal, any hope, or any confidence if we will not feast at Christ’s table. It may mean we don’t get as much checked off of our to-do list as we had hoped. It may mean the Bible reading plan needs to be put on pause. But no matter the cost, we know it’s worth it because the Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15).

May you break free from your snackable Bible and gorge yourself on God’s Word. And may Christ dwell in us richly, freely, and without limitation.

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1 - Check out Andy Naselli’s blog post, “Three Tips for Better Bible Reading,” which includes a helpful chart of Bible Reading Times for each book of the Bible: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/three-tips-for-better-bible-reading

Zach Barnhart currently serves as Student Pastor of Northlake Church in Lago Vista, TX. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Middle Tennessee State University and is currently studying at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, seeking a Master of Theological Studies degree. He is married to his wife, Hannah. You can follow Zach on Twitter @zachbarnhart or check out his personal blog, Cultivated.

4 Ways to Become A Role Player in Your Church

Anyone who plays or follows sports knows that it takes an entire team to win. Winning teams usually have star players and role players. A team is usually built around one or more stars, relied on to carry the squad. Role players have lesser-known yet still significant roles. They don’t receive all the credit, take all the blame or provide the most influence.

But each role player is vital to the overall success of a team. If they fail to execute their responsibilities, it makes everyone’s job harder. We often don’t realize that role players strengthen the team dynamic, not the stars. Stars have a significant impact, but without an excellent supporting cast willing to follow, sacrifice, and carry out necessary tasks for the benefit of the team, that team will either remain stagnant or eventually crumble into a rebuilding state.

Sports fans also know there’s no greater competitive experience than when your team is firing on all cylinders because everyone is doing their job.  If you watched the recent demolition in the 2018 NBA Finals as the Golden State Warriors swept the Cleveland Cavaliers, you understand this illustration very well, but I digress.

A HEALTHY CHURCH

It’s no different in the church. While some may lead out front, and others help make it possible, everyone is necessary. There’s no better feeling than when your church is in sync and everyone is doing their part to make disciples.  A church like this is healthy.

“Healthy" doesn't refer to numerical growth, increased staff positions, the number of ministries, even the longevity of a church.  All those things are good and can be the fruit of faithful service, but they are not God-promised signs of success.

God's path to success for his church is based more on subtraction than addition.  The words of Christ teach us that to gain we must lose; and to live, we must die (Matthew 16:24-26).

This means our churches should forsake worldly passions and pursue Christ.  A healthy church progressively reflects the character of God through a constant dying to self so his name may be magnified.

Every church should desire to be healthy in this manner.  Mark Dever draws a picture of a healthy church; “I like the word healthy because it communicates the idea of a body that’s living and growing as it should.  It may have its share of problems. It’s not been perfected yet. But it’s on the way. It’s doing what it should do because God’s Word is guiding it.”

So even if it’s unpopular, uncomfortable or tedious, continue in steadfast pursuit of what Scripture calls us to in Ephesians 4:11-16, which is to equip the saints, and build up the body of Christ, until we all attain unity in faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Now the question is, “Isn’t building up the church the pastor’s job?”  Yes, but the job isn’t theirs alone. Every member is called to take part in building up their particular body. Members are meant to serve in ways that supplement the pastor’s role and make his work a joy and not burdensome.

Here are four ways to become a good role player in your church.

1. DEVELOP A PRAYING SPIRIT 

We should pray for church leaders and members, always interceding on their behalf.  Paul urges the church in Ephesians 6:18 to at all times make prayers and petitions for all the saints.  Often, our default reaction is to criticize or complain about what goes on in the church, regardless of it is right or wrong, big or small.  I’ve struggled with this more often than I can say.

However, I was convicted by the words of Puritan preacher John Bunyan, who said, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” Words, thoughts, and works will all be in vain if we don’t first seek the Lord for wisdom.

How much do our critical spirits or excessive complaints build up the church? If we reprogram ourselves to pray instead of criticizing, I believe our attitudes toward the object of our critique will change.  Excessive grumbling and objection only lead to quarrels and factions.

Remember what James 4:1-3 says: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

We must be gracious and patient with leaders and other believers. We're in this walk of sanctification together. Pray with your brothers and sisters. Pray for your leaders. Let’s guard our hearts against selfish motives, discouraging words, and critical attitudes by striving to pray for one another instead of preying on one another.

2. PARTICIPATE IN CYCLES OF DISCIPLESHIP

Members should disciple one another, walking alongside each other, teaching and showing each other how to walk faithfully with the Lord. Titus 2:2-8 speaks of older men teaching younger men, and older women teaching younger women. The mature need to invest in the less mature.  The Christian life is a life of discipleship, from every angle.

I was oblivious to the concept of discipleship during my younger days in the church. No one ever approached me about reading the Bible together or going through a Christian book. The shallow depth of my Christian relationships was reached between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sundays.

I had a tough and lonely walk for some years. But years down the road, the Lord placed some godly men in my life willing to teach me how to be a godly man.  And it was from that experience that I learned what true discipleship is.

It’s imperative that members do their part by intentionally seeking out others known for their wisdom and maturity, asking him or her to spend some time discipling them. Or seek out a younger, less mature Christian, maybe someone on the fence about membership, and similarly engage them.

Studying the Bible together is a great starting point, but as the relationship builds, begin to step it up a notch and ask tough questions regarding personal holiness, practice confession and repentance, and pray for each other.  These practices will eventually lead to mutual Christian accountability (Proverbs 27:17) and a stronger walk with the Lord.  As each Christian is built up, so is their church.

3. PRACTICE EVANGELISM

In many churches, stagnant growth is often a mystery or a blemish. Despite faithful preaching of the Word and a pastor living above reproach, some churches remain stuck or are on the decline. The causes can’t always be determined, but one diagnosis often is lack of evangelism by members. The sermon is not, and should not be, the only means of evangelism going on.  Every member should be involved in personal evangelism. Scripture mandates that every Christian be equipped for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12). Pastors are responsible to equip the saints. If they do the training, members are responsible for receiving that training and putting it into practice.

4. CELEBRATE EACH OTHER

Individually and collectively, public adoration for the faithful living and gospel witness of members should regularly happen. Our churches should thank God for members showing hospitality in their homes, doing mission work, sharing the gospel at their jobs or with their neighbors, serving in children's ministry, and starting ministries or small groups.

Don't be afraid to publicly affirm, with wisdom, the Christian maturity that particular members are displaying, for the blessing they have been to the body.  2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 says, "We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.”

Cultivating the practice of celebrating the work of God in the lives of members will help us think more of others than ourselves and give glory to God.

PLAY YOUR ROLE

Church members who pray, disciple, evangelize and celebrate are blessings to their bodies and pastors. There are other ways to faithfully serve your local church, but for those unsure where to begin, let these four areas be your starting blocks to becoming an excellent role player.  This will help strengthen your church and make for a great team win for the Kingdom of God.

No matter what your role is, if you play it well, you will help build up your church until it reaches its full potential.

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Joseph Dicks was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, and is a master of divinity student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also an assistant campus missionary with the Kentucky Baptist Convention. He is married to Melanie, and is a member of Mosaic Church Lexington. Follow Joseph on Twitter.

Why Counter-Formation is at the Heart of Discipleship

“My job is to understand how people behave. Once I understand that, I can change how they behave.” This is what my friend told me over dinner recently. He works high up at one of the most prestigious ad agencies in the U.S. You watch the commercials they make, you buy the products they advertise—it’s your behavior that he changes.

This conversation with my friend reveals one of the most important, and most forgotten, truths of modern American life: everyone is trying to form you. Nothing is neutral.

It’s easy to be discipled by America. All you have to do is nothing.

THE POWER OF NORMAL

One of the fundamental lessons of discipleship is that the important things in life are caught, not taught.

I remember very few of the things my dad said to me, but I have become like him anyway. By being present in my life, my dad became normal to me, and that is the most powerful thing he did. Fortunately for me, he was a great dad, and I’m glad I became like him.

If you want to know what or who is discipling you, look at your life and ask what’s normal. The normal things are the most powerful things. The problem is, the normal things are also the hardest things to notice.

Take, for example, your habit of looking at screens. You’re skimming this article right now, trying to decide if you want to read the rest of it or click on something else.

If you’re like me, the habit of spending large parts of the day constantly scanning screens for something to peak our attention is totally normal. That’s probably not surprising. What is surprising is how we’re unknowingly being formed by our screens.

How is it that Facebook, FOX News, Google, and Twitter are all free, and yet they make so much money? It’s because we are the product, and our attention is sold to people like my friend. On the other side of the screen, there’s an army of people spending exorbitant amounts of money studying how to capture your attention and sell it to advertisers, who in turn make loads of money because of their expert ability to change the way you think and behave. We wonder why we can’t stop checking headlines or looking at social media—it’s helpful to realize that it’s not exactly a fair fight.

The real problem is not the calculated campaign for our attention, but that it is so normal we don’t see it. We are discipled by our screens simply by doing nothing. The results are well documented. The fruits of the spirit are peace, patience, goodness, and self-control. The fruits of the screen are loneliness, anxiousness, group-think, and consumerism.

The invisible power of screens and marketing is a great modern example of the power of invisible formation, but it is only the tip of the iceberg.

The point is to realize that if we care about discipleship, we need to think very carefully about the water we swim in and ask whether those currents are making us more like Jesus or not.

I would argue that we cannot make that assessment without a set of carefully chosen, counter-formational habits; the kind of habits that help us see the water and create a new normal.

The Common Rule is just such a set of habits.

HABITS OF DISCIPLESHIP

The Common Rule is a set of four daily and weekly habits designed to form us in the love of God and neighbor. There are all kinds of habits, but many of them focus on screens.

Take, for example, The Common Rule habit of Scripture before phone. I love my smartphone. (In fact, I wrote this article on my phone in the back of a car on a trip home.) Phones enable amazing things. But ever since I got my phone, it started invading my mornings.

I’m a corporate lawyer, and for a long season of life the first thing I did every morning was check my work email in bed. My eyes would peel open and I would scan through what people wanted me to do today.

The formational consequences were powerful. My phone became a liturgy of legalism. The gospel tells me I’m loved in spite of what I can or can’t accomplish. But in starting my day in work emails, I wasn’t simply asking my phone what I needed to do that day. I was asking my phone what I needed to do to justify my existence that day.

In the end, I needed the counter-formational habit of Scripture before phone.

Sometimes people think that cultivating such a habit is legalistic, as if you have to do such a thing to be holy. For me, however, cultivating this habit and others like it was what I needed to fight my natural bent towards letting the world disciple me in legalism. Whether it’s social media or news headlines, much of what we read first thing in the morning is designed to stoke anger or envy—to make us think the world is about us.

In order to pursue being formed in gospel freedom, I needed a new habit. By doing nothing, I began the day in legalism.

It took some practice to form the habit of Scripture before phone, but I found that beginning my day in the story of God’s love calmed my anxiety and prepared me to work out of love for clients and coworkers, instead of working to earn myself love. Soon I found it also cleared a blank space in my mornings, where now—by habit—I leave the phone upstairs and read, sit quietly, or drink coffee slowly.

CULTIVATING GOSPEL HABITS

Some of The Common Rule habits focus on friendship, some focus on rest, others focus on work or screens. In different ways, all of these habits are meant to help develop a new normal, so that our habits make us more like Jesus instead of less.

The reason my marketing friend was telling me about his work was that he was trying out a habit from The Common Rule of pausing for kneeling prayer in the middle of his workday.

In a brief midday prayer on the floor of an empty conference room, he was reflecting on the significance of his industry and how he could work to make it a better—not a worse—place. He was inviting God to shape his work instead of inviting his work to shape his view of God.

He was creating a new normal, a powerful new habit of mind. He was cultivating a gospel habit.

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Justin Whitmel Earley lives in Richmond, VA with his wife, Lauren, and his three (soon to be four!) sons Whit, Asher, and Coulter. He is a corporate lawyer and a writer of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, The Common Rule - Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction is his first book-length project and is coming out with InterVarsity Press in early 2019. Read more at www.thecommonrule.org.

Big Lessons from a Wee Little Man

On my best days, I stand 5’6”. My wife, in a display of self-sacrifice typical of her, wore flats in our wedding so as not to—quite literally—show me up. The bond I feel to Zacchaeus, then, should come as little surprise. We have relegated his story from Luke 19 to the cute side of Christianity. If you grew up in an evangelical church, odds are you remember this tune:

“Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.”

A song like that never quite dislodges itself from your head, yet adult believers rarely sing it back or spend time considering Zacchaeus. Revisiting his brief moment within the story of Jesus reveals significant lessons and serious stakes. Zacchaeus isn’t just for children’s church or puppet shows—his interaction with Jesus raises implications we might rather avoid.

A RICH MAN BROUGHT LOW

Let’s quickly re-acquaint ourselves with Zacchaeus, this time with less music.

The first details Luke shares about Zacchaeus are his vocation and class. He clocked in and out as a tax collector, a vocation despised all along history’s continuum from Jesus’ day up through our own. It’s safe to assume Zacchaeus tried to dodge the question, “So, what do you do?” in social situations, though the story suggests he wasn’t invited to many parties.

Luke spells out Zacchaeus’ status as a matter of fact: “He was rich.” But his wealth didn’t come with a place of honor. As Jesus, the provocative religious teacher, walks through Jericho, Zacchaeus wants to see the man for himself, like everyone else in town. But he found himself crowded out and unable to see the mysterious rabbi.

“He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way” (Luke 19:3-4).

On his way by, Jesus looks up and calls out, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house” (Luke 19:5). Jesus invites himself over to Zacchaeus’ house, pleasing the diminutive tax collector and flustering the crowd, who know not only what Zacchaeus does for a living, but what he’s like.

Jesus’ welcome and acceptance are not lost on Zacchaeus. Immediately, he pledges to give half of what he owns to relieve the poor and, hinting at ongoing sin, says he’ll repay “four times as much” as he has extorted from others (Luke 19:8).

Jesus, who always knew what he was doing, acknowledges he was after Zacchaeus’ heart from the jump and declares that salvation has come to Zacchaeus’ home. Then Jesus restates his mission and locates Zacchaeus within it: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

SEEING JESUS

Zacchaeus’ story isn’t about climbing trees. It’s about a change of heart, a reorientation of desire that expresses itself through action. If like Zacchaeus, we want to experience salvation, then his response to Jesus warrants deeper reflection.

Zacchaeus’ response to Christ was a desire to change the way he lived. Zacchaeus had little public credibility left, but he was willing to debase himself further to see who Jesus was. Paul puts the same desire in his own words: “More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8).

We sing words like these on Sunday mornings. In our public prayers, small groups, and coffee shop conversations, we claim we want to see and know God. But how many of us actually look for Jesus everywhere we go? How often do we consider knowing him—intimately, completely—as important as knowing about him?

Zacchaeus should be commended. Once he had even an inkling of who Jesus was, he put aside everything to see him more clearly. Will we follow his lead?

REJOICE AT AMAZING GRACE

Jesus’ outstretched hand of friendship to tax-collecting Zacchaeus laid the crowd’s heart bare. Rather than be amazed that Jesus wanted to spend time with this sinful man, they recoiled.

And so it is with us. We believe God can save the well-mannered pillar of our community. They’re already so good and so decent, we reason. We even recognize his intent with those on the other end of the spectrum, the poor or homeless person with whom we have no history.

We express less enthusiasm when Jesus begins to draw someone we can’t stand, someone who has hurt us, or someone we’ve watched lay waste to their relationships.

The childhood bully, the cheating spouse, the cheerleader for another political tribe. Can we find it within ourselves to recognize grace at work within them? Or will we grumble like the crowd, shaking our heads and wagging our fingers at Jesus?

A WHOLE GOSPEL

Even if you’re able to make peace with the story so far, Zacchaeus has to go and do something that completely meddles with our comfortable ideas of call-and-response, conversion, and repentance.

The evidence that he already has seen something in Jesus, that the Spirit truly is loosed within his heart, comes as he promises to restore what he has stolen and make others whole (v. 8).

We plunder others all the time, even when we don’t recognize it. We pinch a little dignity, steal a piece of their reputation in the eyes of others. What if the gospel, as it works within us, directed us to make others whole?

Our movement toward healing and restoration is not a means of earning favor with God. We can only make others whole because God has made us whole. He has restored all that sin, death and the locust has taken—and now, out of his storehouse supply (Phil. 4:19), we can play our small part, imitating him by doing the same.

BIG LESSONS FROM A LITTLE MAN

How different would our lives and relationships look if we adopted Zacchaeus’ mindset? We would repay any honor we’ve stolen, with interest (Rom. 12:10). Forgiveness withheld would be replaced with reconciliation. What we extract through shame and guilt would find its recompense in acceptance and affirmation.

Following in the footsteps of Zacchaeus, bending our gospel encounter into real life, we would pursue a whole and unified church by making others whole.

Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and he only gets ten verses in Scripture. But the lessons therein loom large. Disciples who truly want to see Jesus would do well to hear ourselves in his song and sing it over and over.

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Aarik Danielsen is the arts and music editor at the Columbia Daily Tribune in Columbia, Missouri, where he also serves Karis Church as a lay pastor. Find his work at facebook.com/aarikdanielsenwrites and follow him on Twitter: @aarikdanielsen.

Put Down Your Phone, Pick Up Your Cross, and Follow Jesus

I am convinced that one of the greatest enemies of joyful living is our constant addiction to technology. Because we spend so much time staring at our phones, we don’t have the productivity at our jobs that we should, we don’t spend enough time outside, we ignore our spiritual disciplines, and we spend too much of the time that we spend with people staring at our phones.

This year, I have worked through several books that address this issue. The book that has had the most influence on my thinking about technology this year is Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Georgetown Associate Professor of Computer Science Cal Newport. This book changed the way I think about my work and, as I continue to reflect on the book, my walk with the Lord.

THE DEEP WORK OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

Newport argues that deep work, work which requires hours of focused concentration, is increasingly rare and valuable in our culture. The type of concentration we need to do good work is difficult because we are living in a distracted world.

If distraction makes work difficult, how much more difficult does it make our spiritual lives? We struggle to spend time in our Bibles because of our distractions, our minds wander when we are in prayer, and we find corporate worship difficult because the forty-minute sermon is longer than our declining attention spans can handle.

If we struggle to develop our walk with the Lord because we spend most of our time distracted by shallow things, can we adjust our lives and eliminate distractions? Yes, I think so. Here are 5 tips for following Jesus in a distracted world.

CULTIVATE A DEEP WALK THROUGH TIME IN HIS WORD

Yes, every post about growing spiritually begins with a discussion about time in the Bible. I make no apologies for this and don’t intend to amend my practice anytime soon. We need God’s word. The Bible’s own testimony about itself shows how desperately we need it. Moses spoke of the man not living by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus quoted this passage during his temptations in the wilderness. The psalmist describes the Bible as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

What if you committed to going to bed twenty minutes earlier so you can wake up to read God’s Word before you start your day? How much different would your walk with the Lord be if, over the course of a month, you spent almost ten hours basking in the glow of God’s beautiful Bible?

You only have to do two things to make it happen: put down your phone or turn off the TV so you can go to sleep earlier, and do not grab your phone first thing in the morning when you wake up. Instead, work on the discipline of not looking at your phone or turning on the TV until you have set your heart upon the Word of God.

When you read the Bible, make sure you are paying close attention to it. Most of us have slaughtered our attention spans, so do whatever you have to do to make sure that your head is in the game when you are reading. Read with a pencil and journal in your hand so you can jot down notes or underline things that strike you. Do everything you can to get into God’s Word and do not walk away from it until you have allowed it to bear down on your heart.

CULTIVATE A DEEP WALK THROUGH TIME IN PRAYER

If we think our minds wander during a sermon, it is nothing compared with how they wander when we’re praying. In prayer, we commune with the God who made the whole world and gave his Son to bring us back to him. What should capture our attention more than that?

You must devise strategies that will help you have laser-like focus. First, do not think of Bible reading and prayer as two separate and unrelated activities. Instead, look at one as feeding the other. I recommend finding at least one thing in your Bible reading that can jumpstart your prayer time. Did you see sin that you need to confess? Did you read a promise that you need faith to believe? Was there a command that you need help obeying?

Also, use a journal or a list when you pray. This can be a list of people you are praying for and of things going on in your own life that you need to bring before the Lord. You may want to write out your prayers while you say them so you stay engaged and your mind does not wander. In addition, when you do this you can read over your prayers years later and be encouraged by how the Lord has been at work.

You may wonder where you will “find” the time to do this. You will not “find” the time. Life does not work that way. You must make time by ruthlessly cutting out things that are of little or no importance so you can make time for things that are of supreme importance.

CULTIVATE A DEEP WALK BY MAKING TIME FOR PEOPLE

We experience an interesting paradox in the digital age: we are connected to more people in more places than ever, yet we are lonelier than ever. Very little of the time we spend connected to others takes place in face-to-face conversations, around the dinner table, or working together on a shared project. Unfortunately, we spend much of our time in the presence of other people looking at our own screens.

When we function like this, we miss many of the blessings of following Jesus. When you are reading the New Testament, look carefully at every occurrence of the words “one another.” Can we experience the value of true Christian community while we sit in our homes and stare at a phone? Of course not! The one another passages beckon us out of our cocoons and into real life with other people. When we do this, we get the blessing of being an encouragement to them and experience them being a blessing to us.

In community, we discover areas where we struggle with sin and need to grow. When we walk with others, we learn where we are deceiving ourselves and where we have blind spots. While this sounds like bad news, it is actually a great grace to us. Through seeing our sins in community, we can repent and grow with the help of other believers. We are not on our own in the struggle. Maybe some of the powerlessness in our own personal walk with the Lord and in the witness of our churches comes from our neglecting time with each other.

CULTIVATE A DEEP WALK BY MAKING TIME FOR CORPORATE WORSHIP

There was a time in the life of American Christianity when we measured our involvement in the local church by how many times we were engaged each week. Now we measure it by how many times we attend in a month. I have no desire to return to the days when something was going on at the church building every night of the week. It was not healthy, and we did not give people enough time to spend with their families and neighbors.

But we have gone way too far in the other direction. When you consider that we are being discipled by the world every day, worship with the church twice a month is not sufficient to grow as a believer. How can we grow when we are neglecting the means God has given to help us grow?

If you have so much going on in your life that you are too tired to worship with the church on Sunday, cut something out. If you are too busy to do what God has commanded, you are too busy. Make time for the Sunday worship gathering. Allow nothing but providential hindrances to come in the way. When you come into worship, bring a physical copy of the Bible, turn off your phone, talk to the people around you, and completely engage in worship with the body.

Your time in worship will be more beneficial. You will discover that while one sermon may not change your life, repeated exposure to God’s Word week after week will. You will find that you learn those songs you claim not to know when you sing them more often. The people you say you never see will become more familiar to you. Partaking in communion more often will not cheapen its meaning but will make it a vital means of grace in your life.

CULTIVATE A DEEP WALK BY KNOWING WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT

Although I wrote the first draft of this on a typewriter, this has not been a screed against technology. Technology is a good thing when it is a tool that we use. It becomes dangerous when it is something that is using us.

We must learn to be master of these tools and not their slaves. So, we must reacquaint ourselves with the things in our lives that matter most. We need to give them the priority they are due so we can cultivate a walk with the Lord that goes deeper than we have ever gone before.

A while back, my doctor told me that I need to lose weight. Since she ended her speech to me with “and I’ll be praying for you,” I’m assuming she was serious. Waking up at 4:30 a.m. to work out has not been fun, and I wish I could eat more chocolate, but after a month I feel better, have more energy, and my clothes fit better. It has been worth it.

In the same way, putting down our devices at night and getting to bed earlier will not be easy. Cutting down on our weekend activities means saying “no” to things we would like to say “yes” to. However, we find that in saying “no” to mundane things, we get to say “yes” to things that things that are better and more beautiful.

Being dazzled by God’s Word is better than being entertained by one more show on Netflix or one more scroll through your Facebook news feed. The encouragement from time in prayer before the Father is infinitely better than bathing in social media gossip. The correction or encouragement of a Christian friend to your face is worth way more than hundreds of likes from people you never see.

When we cultivate a deep walk with the Lord, we are not denying ourselves the best things in life—we are cutting out things that bring no lasting satisfaction so we can have the infinite and lasting joy that only God can give.

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Scott Slayton (M.Div., SBTS) serves as Lead Pastor at Chelsea Village Baptist Church in Chelsea, Alabama. Scott and his wife Beth have four children: Hannah, Sarah Kate, Leah, and Matt.  He regularly writes at his personal blog One Degree to Another.

Never Lose One Moment of Time

Editor’s note: This month at GCD you will be seeing articles from our team of Staff Writers and other contributors on a handful of topics that Jonathan Edwards introduced in his own Resolutions. The aim of this series is to help you see how a gospel-formed resolution can help you flourish in your love for Christ and for others next year. Click here to see all articles in this series.

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There is no lack of content on the topic of time in pop culture. From Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” to Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle,” there is an oft-repeated chorus of lament that once a minute is lived it cannot be relived.

Science fiction explores the would-be-worlds in which time travel exists in stories like H.G. Wells’ Time Machine, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, or the more lighthearted Back to the Future. Oh, what we would change if only the possibility to return to past moments existed!

The reality is that the past stays in the past, and a minute wasted can never be reinvested. The old adage “time is money” is a half-truth when applied to our vocations, but the equation falls desperately short in terms of currency. It is possible for one to waste an entire fortune and somehow regain their riches, but each hour of our lives wasted is lost forever.

In a recent film called In Time, the audience is cast into a world where the currency of the day is time added to one’s life. The characters in this alternate universe are genetically engineered to expire after their twenty-fifth birthday but are able to cheat this fate as their employers pay them in minutes added to their lifespan. The depravity is all-too-real as the vast disparity between the virtually immortal rich and the poor who are literally living paycheck-to-paycheck.

How would we live differently if we knew exactly how many minutes we had until we died?

NEVER LOSE ONE MOMENT

This brings me to a resolution of Jonathan Edwards that the 21st-century human may find most convicting:

"#5 - Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can."

At first glance, this resolution appears to come from another voice in the stream of productivity gurus. Time is juxtaposed with profit, so we’re tempted to only think in terms of maximizing efficiency.

But Edwards didn’t desire to live his life in a way where he makes the most money. Instead, he aimed to make much of his Messiah. If we start working overtime in our careers or doubling down in the stock market, it is not God’s kingdom we’re seeking, but mammon’s.

Time well spent has nothing to do with Wall Street and everything to do with worship.

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE

Anyone who has ever mourned time wasted by mindlessly scrolling through social media knows that there are more noble tasks with which to spend our time. Christians have long been noted for their frivolity when it comes to financial generosity and their prudence when it comes to sexual desire. In the 21st century, what if they also became known for their insistence on making the most of their time?

Returning to the world of science fiction, one of the most gut-wrenching glimpses into the priceless nature of our finite time is in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. Upon arriving back on their ship after a stint where time passes differently, the main characters learn that twenty-three years have passed. From their perspective, they were gone for only a handful of hours. There is a palpable sense of grief in the characters that the viewer experiences as well; grief over the loss of time and the life that could have been lived.

To the outside world, time spent reading and re-reading Scripture, praying to our unseen Creator, and seeking silence and solitude to commune with our Savior should speak volumes. But I fear that many Christians have syncretized biblical faith with 21st-century self-worship. When taking selfies is a higher priority than taking a Sabbath from our self-absorbed lives, little distinction can be made between the Church and the surrounding culture. Edwards’ resolution hits the self-absorbed Christian (myself included) right in the gut.

What a blessing from God that every moment spent seeking him is a moment well spent. No one on his or her deathbed will regret one nanosecond spent in Word or worship. Mark Twain brilliantly quipped on our deaths, “We’ll be mourned for a day, and forgotten for a lifetime.” Yet we still feel that pull to post one more selfie.

No one can rob us of time pursuing our Creator, that is, no one but ourselves. Those in prison and torture camps can be deprived of everything, but not their ability to pray and commune with God. In God’s economy, one can even see the deprivation of all material comforts as a blessing that forces one to pursue God undistracted.

LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE

Our hearts sink when we hear stories of men and women serving forty years of a life sentence only to be freed when new forensic breakthroughs reveal they were innocent all along. But there are worse things than the innocent rotting away in a jail cell.

Richard Wurmbrand, the founder of Voice of the Martyrs, chronicles the torture he experienced while imprisoned for his faith in communist Romania. While reading of his experience, one is overcome by the evidence of Christ’s work in Wurmbrand’s life. It would be all too easy for the careless onlooker to classify his time spent in confinement as the brutal robbery of a decade and a half of his life. But because of his intense affections for God and love for his neighbor—including his savage communist jailers—he never lost hope that God would redeem his lost time for a greater purpose. In his own words:

“A total of fourteen years in prison passed for me. During all this time I never saw a Bible or any other book. I had forgotten how to write. Because of the great hunger, doping and tortures, I had forgotten the Holy Scriptures. But on the day that I fulfilled fourteen years, out of oblivion came into my mind the verse: ‘Jacob worked for Rachel fourteen years and it seemed to him a little time because he loved her.’ ”^[1]

Wurmbrand’s life is a testament to one who takes Jesus’ commands seriously. In picking up his cross daily, he considered the lives of his jailers more important than his own. He was all too willing to give up his life, and he did—fourteen whole years of it—in order that others might see the all-surpassing glory of his savior.

A PRISON OF OUR OWN MAKING

There is a parody of Wurmbrand’s imprisonment that is taking place in millions of households across the world. There, people are enslaved, not by brutal guards, but by the backlit screen of their smartphones. The sun rises and sets in the backdrop and another day fades away like smoke. The real tragedy is that the enslavement is a welcome one.

How I wish I was immune to this phenomenon. I’m all too familiar with the dopamine hit that mindlessly unlocking my iPhone brings. I need Jesus’ grace and the indwelling Spirit to reorient my life around things of ultimate importance.

Worldly values, committed to the kingdom of self, see Wurmbrand’s imprisonment and willing use of his life to support the persecuted Church, as a waste. But the follower of Christ knows better. Not one minute of torture will go wasted in the coming kingdom; God will redeem it. I suspect Wurmbrand himself does not know just how many guards were moved by his selfless love and witness in the rat-infested hole he was kept in. As we get glimpses of the already-but-not-yet kingdom, we see a different economy of time where worship and self-denial are the wisest uses of it.

I pray God would give me the grace to begin making that my reality now!

How about you?

This world is passing away and will soon be eclipsed by the realization of Christ’s kingdom. Those who enter into it will see things for what they truly are: every moment dedicated to self will be burned away, but every moment spent pursuing the King is a moment invested in eternity.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-16).

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^[1] Wurmbrand, Richard. Tortured for Christ, 1967. pg. 53

Sean Nolan (B.S. and M.A., Clarks Summit University) is the Family Life Pastor at Christ Fellowship Church in Forest Hill, Maryland. Prior to that, he served at a church plant in Troy, New York for seven years and taught Hermeneutics to ninth and tenth graders. He is married to Hannah and is raising an army of toddlers. He blogs at Family Life Pastor. You can read all of Sean’s articles here.

Biblical Authority as Relationship, Not Rulebook

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from our latest book, That Word Above All Earthly Powers, written by Gerry Breshears with Whitney Woollard (Whitney is one of our staff writers). If you like this article, then be sure to pick up a paperback or Kindle copy.

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Our generation has a problem with authority—we don’t trust it and, quite frankly, we don’t like it. This presents unique challenges in speaking to the Bible’s authority, a concept rejected by many as antiquated and stifling. How can an ancient document have the right to command me to any belief or action in the twenty-first century? And how can, or perhaps why should, any book bind my conscience in all matters of faith, life and practice?

These are legitimate questions to be dealt with well as Christians engage a world that is increasingly shaped by anti-authority sentiments. The idea that someone should do this or that simply “because the Bible says so” no longer holds up. It may work in a Christian bubble or conservative movement, but not in the world. Besides, those whom we call to follow Jesus need to know what makes the Bible authoritative and what that authority means for their new life in Christ. This is particularly important as we disciple them in the Word of God and instruct them to submit their entire lives to it. Obviously, no small call.

To help us towards that end, we’ve asked Gerry Breshears, Ph.D., professor of theology and chairman of biblical and theological studies at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon to share his approach to the Bible and its authority. A work this size can hardly be comprehensive. Yet, Gerry and I (Whitney) have highlighted key pieces to consider when working with the Bible as an authoritative document binding upon God’s people.

WHAT MAKES THE BIBLE AUTHORITATIVE?

You have to start here. Ask yourself, “What is it that makes the Bible authoritative?” Of course, a significant piece is that it’s God’s Word, it’s inspired text. This is what theologians call the doctrine of inspiration: That work of God wherein he providentially prepared and moved the human authors enabling them to receive and communicate according to their individual personalities and styles the truth he would have his people know for his glory and human salvation.

A whole book could be written explaining inspiration but, in short, it means that God speaks to us through his Word. The Holy Spirit “carried along” the authors of Scripture in such a way that their words were God’s very words (see 2 Peter 1:19-21). They were literally “breathed out” by him so that we could receive salvation, learn truth about him and his world, and understand how to live God’s way in order to enjoy his best for our lives (see 2 Timothy 3:15-17).

The implication of this doctrine is that when we read the Bible, we are actually reading the words of God! Pretty profound, huh? Therein lies a significant piece of its authority. Far from being a book that gives “basic instructions before leaving earth,” the Bible, as God’s Word, has divine authority because God has authority in your life as the one who alone created the universe and rules over all. This is not authority as “Bible” but authority as that which comes from the triune God (who, to be clear, is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit not God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Bible). It’s authoritative because it’s God’s words.

But what’s the nature of that authority? Inspiration tells you God has the right to command you to do something simply because he is the authoritative God who has spoken to you through his Word. But if we stop here we end up back where we started — “just do this because the Bible says so” — never understanding the God revealed in the Bible. Isn’t that the simplistic argument our generation has rejected? Moreover, isn’t it what the sufferers of authoritarianism, dogmatic fundamentalism, and spiritual abuse have cast off? So, it seems to us that inspiration is a key piece of the Bible’s authority but it’s not the entire picture.

A FULLER PICTURE OF THE BIBLE’S AUTHORITY

To get this picture we need to look at the nature of the God who speaks through the Bible. Gerry goes to Exodus 14 where God redeems his people from the hand of the Egyptians with an outstretched arm as they cross the red sea on dry land. You get the song of triumph by Moses, Miriam, and company in Exodus 15 where together they praise God for his redemptive work. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end at this high point. You turn to Exodus 16 and the people are already grumbling about having no food. What does God do? He provides food. In Exodus 17 they’re grumbling about having no water. What does God do? He provides water.

Then at the end of Exodus 17 the Amalekites attack Israel and you get that interesting battle where the Israelites are winning so long as Aaron and Hur are holding up Moses’ hands. You see that God is with Israel and he protects them from their enemies. After their victory God tells Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua” (Exodus 17:14). This is the first command to anyone in Scripture to write something down. Which means it’s pretty important. What was Moses to write down and recite? A bunch of rules? Actually, no. He was to write down all the ways that God had redeemed, provided for, and protected his people. So that’s the first thing—God is there to redeem, provide for, and protect people who don’t deserve it.

Then in Exodus 19 God invites the people, the grumblers of chapters 16 and 17, into a covenantal relationship. This covenant is ratified in Exodus 24 when Moses takes the elders up onto the mountain and draws near to the Lord. After he does the sacrifice and sprinkles the blood he comes to the people and tells them “all the words of the Lord and all the rules” (Exodus 24:3). In verse four we see Moses write down all these words, thus getting more written Scripture. Now you see that God is not only the one who redeems, provides for, and protects, but he’s also the God who initiates and invites covenant relationship with humans. The invitation to relationship comes first and the “rules” of that relationship (i.e., the law which the Israelites understood to be authoritative) come after. When you put the pieces together the following theme emerges in regards to the Bible’s authority:

The Bible is authoritative because it comes from God (inspiration) and he has the right to command us to do things and tell us how to relate to him not only because he is the God of the universe, but also because he is the God who redeems, provides for, and protects, and he wants to have a good relationship with us.

THE BIBLE AS A COVENANT DOCUMENT

So you see the Bible is not a book of rules that you try to obey to get into heaven when you die or feel guilty about when you break. Rather, it’s a covenantal document written by people telling the story of God acting in history to redeem and protect his people. It recounts how God invites people into a covenant relationship – like a marriage – with rules of relationship so we can have an intimate relationship with him and become a people characterized by faithfulness, generosity and justice.

Think of it as a father in a loving relationship with his kids. Or a spouse in a faithful marriage to his wife. Don’t think rulebook used by teacher in a classroom. It’s not that. It’s a covenantal God who has redeemed and provided for us through Jesus the Messiah and will protect us until his return. Thus, the Bible is the binding covenant document given by this God so we can know and receive Jesus, learn how to live for him, and be sent out on mission with him.

If people are going to reject the authority of the Bible (and many will), let’s make sure they’re rejecting the Bible rather than some pop-cultural view of God that hands us a rulebook with impossibly high standards to get his kicks and giggles from watching us fail. That’s a distorted, unbiblical view. The God who gave his own Son to be in relationship with you is the same God who gave you the inspired Word so you could know him and enjoy good relationship with him.

Does this mean that the Bible is all relationship and no rules? Of course not. Look back at Exodus 24:3. Moses was to write down all the words and all the rules of the Lord. The Bible does have rules (or “commands”) that help navigate our walk with Jesus just as every good relationship comes with rules.

THE “RULES” OF RELATIONSHIP

If you’ve ever read the Bible you’ve come across rules. The infamous ones are known as the ten commandments. You shall have no other gods before me, you shall not make for yourself a carved image, you shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, and so forth. Almost everyone is familiar with these commands. But often they’re taken out the context of Israel’s story. These rules were given by God after he redeemed them and entered into covenant with them. They were the positive things God put into place to help humans cultivate a happy relationship with him and others.

Before you balk at this idea, consider how we see this in marriage or family. We all have rules that help make our relationships work. Gerry’s rule for his sweetheart Sherry is “Thou shalt not touch thy husband at night unless thou is having a nightmare and needs to be touched.” The reason being, once he’s awake he’s up for the night. Or, “Thou shalt kiss thy wife whenever she walkest into the house.” When a husband gets adequate sleep or a wife gets lots of kisses it makes for a happy marriage. See, happy rules! But they are rules.

A lot of the Bible is like that. A covenantal God giving rules to his people so that they can be in a happy relationship with him and others. For example, the command not to commit adultery is put in place so a husband and wife can enjoy fruitful, faithful intimacy with each other. It is an authoritative rule God’s people are to live by but it’s a good rule that protects a marriage. It’s for our benefit!

I (Whitney) remember a time right after my conversion when I was “hanging out” with a boy I had crushed on for years. It was finally happening! Then one morning I opened by Bible to 1 Corinthians 6:18 (all new to me, by the way) and came across these words: “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” The Spirit gripped my conscience with those words. I realized this was a boundary marker or a “rule” that I needed to live by. Immediately I broke it off. I see now how those words were for my benefit from a loving father. To this day I thank God for that rule.

The point is, when we reject the Bible’s authority we’re rejecting the very things that have been put in place by a loving God for our good. Far from being that which stifles our “true selves,” the rules in the Bible set us free to be fully human. The Bible teaches us how to cultivate a heart that loves Jesus and Jesus’ people and how to walk with him in a way that nourishes our souls. It warns us to run from those things which hurt us or vandalize the image of God in others. It trains us to become people of justice and mercy and righteousness. It gives us guidance on how to carry out his mission in his world.

Submitting to the Bible’s authority is actually a good and beautiful thing. As Gerry helpfully teaches, accepting God’s authority in Scripture means loving him, taking his values to heart, obeying his commands, embracing his promises, declaring those promises in life and word wherever we go. Isn’t this something we, as believers, should desire not reject? Shouldn’t his words bind our consciences in all matters of faith, life and practice?

BUT, WAIT, WHAT ABOUT…?

If you accept our proposition, that as the inspired Word of God the Bible alone is the final authority for all matters of faith and life and what it teaches comes with divine authority because it is the covenant document of God’s redemptive relationship with his people, you may still have some questions. Namely, what do you do with all the parts of Scripture that isn’t commands or rules? How do you “obey” a narrative or submit to a song? And is all the Bible equally authoritative and binding on your life as it was for the original hearers? Plus, why are there so many issues in your life that the Bible doesn’t speak to? Good questions! Here are some points to consider when thinking about the Bible’s authority in your life:

1. HOW CAN NARRATIVES AND PSALMS BE AUTHORITATIVE?

The Bible is one big story. It’s the story of God acting to save people from sin, self, and Satan, to judge and condemn evil and sin in the world and to set people free to be fully human, just like Jesus. Genres like narrative or psalms are authoritative in the fact that they help us learn that story, show us the character of God, and reveal his purposes for his world. We see that the whole story points towards the true Hero, Jesus, and teaches us how to receive his salvation and then live like him. As we read the Bible, we are called to live in a way that is consistent with God’s redemptive purposes in Christ, its characters and themes revealed, and the directions that have been set up in the story. For example, as we navigate relationships with broken people we follow the narrative of Jesus who loves and serves the prostitute who is under the death penalty even as he calls her to repentance. That’s something we learn through narrative. Or, like the psalmist, we choose to trust in God’s stated outcome even though we have not seen it come to pass yet. So, even though these texts aren’t strictly “legal” we can submit to them by following the mission and character of God revealed in them.

2. IS ALL THE BIBLE EQUALLY AUTHORITATIVE?

All the Bible is equally God’s Word, but there are parts that were written for a particular era which give us broader principles to apply but are not directly binding. For example, the Mosaic covenant was given to Israel after the Abrahamic covenant until the Messiah came and the New Covenant was inaugurated. In Galatians 3:19-4:7 Paul explains how the law acted as a “babysitter” or a “guardian” to help keep Israel until the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. Now that Jesus, Abraham’s offspring, has come and inaugurated the New Covenant promises, we are no longer under the Mosaic code. Gerry ate bacon for breakfast the day we met about this article. I (Whitney) ate sausage. We’re okay to do that. However, much in the law of Moses is a part of the bigger picture of biblical morality and reveals to us what the divine priorities are. We would do well to apply culturally appropriate applications from the principles set forth in those texts. Of course, this will require the hard work of good interpretation which we encourage you to do.

3. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY ISSUES WHERE THE BIBLE DOES NOT TELL US WHAT TO DO?

There are a lot of specifics in our daily life that just aren’t addressed in the Bible. So how do we submit to its authority in areas that seem unclear? Well, first off, what the Bible prescribes we must believe and do. This is the black and white stuff. Faith in Jesus and repentance of sin is the only way to the Father (see John 14:6). Looking at porn is a sin (see Matthew 15:18-20). Being a part of a vibrant faith community is a must (see Hebrews 10:25). Next, what the Bible describes we should follow as closely as possible. The book of Acts is a great example. It’s a descriptive narrative telling us how the gospel spread to the ends of the earth. As we engage the same mission, we should follow the disciples in the book of Acts as closely as possible. Finally, when the Bible is silent, he intended to give us freedom to be Spirit-led and wise. This pertains to issues like who you should marry, if you should take that job offer, if you should move your family overseas, and so forth. The Bible didn’t tell me (Whitney) to marry Neal. Rather, it shaped the values I was looking for in a spouse. When I met Neal I saw that he loved Jesus, had integrity, and was missionally-minded, so I married him! A lot of life is lived in this area. You seek wisdom and guidance from God and people, pray for the Spirit’s leading and then make a decision. The authority of the Bible sets you free to make decisions, it shouldn’t paralyze you.

READ YOUR BIBLE!

One final admonition from us—read the Bible! What a treasure we have in our hands. At any moment we can open the Bible and hear the voice of God. In a culture that is growing increasingly confused, we can go to the Bible and receive authoritative words with clarity and confidence knowing that it comes from a loving Father who wants his kids to have a good relationship with him.

So take up and read.

Read the Scriptures in the context of the whole story and in the context of the worshipping, serving body of Christ, as well as privately and devotionally, for the sake of joining God’s gospel work in the world. Then together, with the Spirit’s help, submit your life to God’s Word in all matters of faith and life and experience the joy that comes from faithful submission.

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Gerry Breshears has been professor of theology at Western Seminary since 1980. In addition to teaching and lecturing at a number of colleges and seminaries around the world, he speaks in many churches. He ministers with a wide variety of people and issues in the pastoral side of his life. He works in leadership in the Evangelical Theological Society nationally and regionally, including having served as national president. Gerry and his wife, Sherry, have two sons, Donn and David, and a daughter, Cyndee, and four wonderful grandchildren. He is an elder and a member of the preaching team at Grace Community Church of Gresham, Oregon.

Whitney Woollard is a writer, speaker, and Bible teacher. She serves as a staff writer at Gospel-Centered Discipleship and contributes to various ministries, including YouVersion, 9Marks, and the Bible Project. She holds her M.A. in biblical and theological studies from Western Seminary and loves sharing her passion for the Word with others. She has been married to Neal for over ten years and together they serve Jesus at Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon. You can contact her at www.whitneywoollard.com.

How to Turn Down the Volume of Your Anxiety

Perhaps you’ve met Ms. Frantic. She arrives at the gym at 8:00 a.m. Hours later, she’s still pounding the treadmill, pumping iron, and powering away on the rowing machine, barely stopping to catch snatched sips from her water bottle. She looks exhausted, miserable, and ready to faint, but still she goes on. You ask her why she is doing this, and she replies, “Because I must.” When you press her, asking, “But, why must you?” she looks at you strangely, and impatiently exclaims, “I don’t know, I just must! There’s always more to do.”

Ms. Reflective also starts bright and early at 8:00 a.m., but she’s different. She uses the same machines and works equally hard at points, but not all the time. Every now and then, she enjoys a drink of refreshing cold water. Sometimes she pauses to look out the windows and simply watch the world go by. She laughs at the children splashing in the nearby swimming pool. She even spots a friend exercising and has time to wave, give a big encouraging smile, and sometimes chat.

Now ask yourself, “Which of these two images reflects how I live my life before God?” Am I Ms. Frantic or Ms. Reflective? Am I overworking and over-stressed, or am I taking time to think and to enjoy God’s world?

A MARTHA WORLD

“Women Are Working Themselves to Death,” warned a recent headline.[1] It was based on a joint study by Ohio State University and The Mayo Clinic that compared almost eight thousand men and women over a thirty-two-year period and found that working over forty hours a week did serious damage to women’s health, causing increased risk of heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and diabetes.[2] Working sixty or more hours a week tripled the risk of these conditions. Not surprisingly, the report’s lead author, professor Allard Dembe, warned: “People don’t think that much about how their early work experiences affect them down the road. . . . Women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are setting themselves up for problems later in life.” Unexpectedly, the risks are elevated only for women, not for men. Further analysis led the researchers to conclude that the greater risk to women is not necessarily because women are weaker but because they are doing so much more than men:

"In addition to working at a job, women often come home to a 'second shift' of work where they are responsible for childcare, chores, housework, and more, according to sociologists. All of this labor at home and at work, plus all the stress that comes along with it, is severely affecting women. Research indicates women generally assume greater family responsibilities and thus may be more likely to experience overload compared to men."[3]

Professor Dembe also pointed to less job satisfaction among women because they have to juggle so many obligations at home as well. But this is not a problem just in the greater culture; it’s a problem in the Christian population too. A survey of over a thousand Christian women, sponsored by Christian Woman magazine, found that 60 percent of Christian women work full-time outside the home. Reflecting on this, Joanna Weaver, author of Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, commented, “Add housework and errands to a forty-hour-a-week career, and you have a recipe for weariness.” But she also warned homemakers: “Women who choose to stay at home find their lives just as full. Chasing toddlers, carpooling to soccer, volunteering at school, babysitting the neighbor’s kids— life seems hectic at every level.”[4] Maybe you’re now seeing Ms. Frantic in the mirror or hearing her in your heart and mind.

OUR INNER ORCHESTRA

Every Christian wants to know God more; few Christians fight for the silence required to know him. Instead, we spend our days smashing stillness-shattering, knowledge-destroying cymbals on our ears and in our souls. And with so many gongs and clashes in our lives, it can sometimes be difficult to isolate and identify them. So let me help you do this and then provide some mufflers.[5]

First, there’s the din of guilt, the shame and embarrassment of our dark moral secrets: “I should have . . . I shouldn’t have . . . I should have . . . I shouldn’t have . . . ” clangs noisily in our deep recesses, shattering our peace and disturbing our tranquility.

Then greed starts banging away in our hearts with its relentless drumstick: “I want it. I need it. I must have it. I will have it. I got it. I want it. I need it.” And so on.

And what’s that angry metal beat? It’s hate stirring up malice, ill will, resentment, and revenge: “How could she . . . I’ll get him! She’ll pay for this!” Of course, anger often clatters into the cymbal of controversy, sparking disagreements, debates, disputes, and divisions.

Vanity also adds its proud and haughty thud, drowning out all who compete with our beauty, our talents, and our status. “Me up . . . him down, me up . . . her down, me up . . . all down.”

Anxiety tinkles distractingly in the background too, rapidly surveying the past, the present, and the future for things to worry about: “What if . . . What if . . . What if . . . ” And is that the little, silver triangle of self-pity I hear? “Why me? Why me? Why me?”

The repetitive and unstoppable jangle of expectation comes from all directions—family, friends, employer, church, and especially from ourselves. Oh, for even a few seconds of respite from the tyranny of other people’s demands and especially from our demanding, oversensitive conscience.

And smashing into our lives wherever we turn, we collide with the giant cymbals of the media and technology: local and international, paper and pixels, sound and image, audio and video, beep and tweet, notifications and reminders, and on and on it goes.

Is it any wonder that we sometimes feel as if we’re going mad? Clanking and clanging, jingling and jangling, smashing and crashing, grating and grinding. A large, jarring orchestra of peace-disturbing, soul-dismantling cymbals. Then.

“Be still and know that I am God.”

But how?

SILENCING THE CYMBALS

We can silence the cymbal of guilt by taking faith to the blood of Christ and saying, “Believe!” Believe that all your sins are paid for and pardoned. There’s absolutely no reason to have even one whisper of guilt. Look at that blood until you grasp how precious and effective it is. It can make you whiter than snow and make your conscience quieter than the morning dew.

Greed is not easily silenced. Maybe muffled is about the best we can expect. Practice doing with less than usual, practice not buying even when you can afford it, practice buying nothing but necessities for a time, and practice spending time in the shadow of Calvary. How much less you’ll find you need when you see how much he gave! Draw up your budget at the cross (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Our unholy anger can be dialed down by God’s holy anger. When we feel God’s hot rage against all sin and all injustice, we begin to chill and calm. Vengeance is God’s; he will repay.

The doctrine of total depravity is the ultimate dampener of personal vanity. When I see myself as God sees me, my heart, my mind, and even my posture change. I stop competing for the top spot and start accepting the lowest place. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Hey! I’m beginning to hear some quiet now. But there’s still that rankling anxiety tinkling away. Oh, to be free of that!

Fatherhood.

What?

Yes, the fatherhood of God can turn the volume of anxiety to zero. He knows, he cares, and he will provide for your needs. Mute your “what-ifs” at the bird feeder (Matthew 6:25– 34). As mother-of-two Sarah told me, “Sometimes the things that can start to burn you out or cause you weariness are often things you can’t leave. Just because you’re feeling burned out by the responsibilities surrounding your husband and kids doesn’t mean you can just up and leave—sometimes not even just for an afternoon! Sometimes you just have to put your head down and persist—but at the same time it is important to take to our Father in heaven our emotions and weakness and weariness.”

Oh, and call in total depravity again when self-pity starts up. “Why me?” cannot stand long before “Why not me?”

“She has done what she could” (Mark 14:8). Don’t you just love Christ’s words to Mary when she anointed his head? What an expectation killer! Every time the despotic Devil, other people, or your tyrannical conscience demands more than you can give, remind them of Jesus’s calming words, “She has done what she could.”

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Content taken from Refresh: Embracing a Grace-Paced Life in a World of Endless Demands by Shona and David Murray, ©2017. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187, www.crossway.org.

Shona Murray is a mother of five children and has homeschooled for fifteen years. She is a medical doctor and worked as a family practitioner in Scotland until she moved to the United States with her husband, David.

David Murray (DMin, Reformation International Theological Seminary) is professor of Old Testament and practical theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and pastor of Grand Rapids Free Reformed Church. He is also a counselor, a regular speaker at conferences, and the author of Jesus on Every Page.

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[1] Jessica Mattern, “Women Are Working Themselves to Death, Study Shows,” Woman’s Day, July 5, 2016, http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/news/a55529 /working-women-health-risks/.

[2] MistiCrane,“Women’s Long Work Hours Linked to Alarming Increases in Cancer,  Heart  Disease,” Ohio State University, June 16, 2016, https://news.osu.edu/news/2016 /06/16/overtime-women/.

[3] Mattern, “Women Are Working Themselves to Death, Study Shows.”

[4] Joanna Weaver, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World (Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook, 2000), 7.

[5] Part of this section was previously published in Tabletalk, the monthly magazine of Ligonier Ministries. Used by permission.

Taste and See that the Bible is True

How do you know that God is good? That He’s trustworthy? How do you know the Bible is true? Many times we’re told we just have to believe these things by knowing and accepting them. In my life, these questions required much more than acquiring knowledge. Coming to answers involved knowing about God, yes, but also experiencing God.

TASTE AND SEE

Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good."

Notice the progression in this verse. First you taste, experiencing the fullness of flavor as your taste buds fire signals to your brain about what you’re eating.

Then your brain interprets those signals and you notice the food is perhaps a bit undercooked, too salty, or—like those scenes in Ratatouille—fireworks go off in your mind as you’re overcome with delight.

Tasting opens our eyes and allows us to see—to know—something for ourselves. Taste and see are experiential words. They involve the senses, which are able to bring abstract concepts to life.

When I think of food, I think of donuts. I’m an evangelist for Jesus, but I’m also a part-time evangelist for a local donut shop.

These things are amazing. The donuts themselves are like a mix between funnel cakes and the donuts most people think of—crunchy and slightly crisp on the outside, soft and delicately fluffy on the inside. And then come the toppings. Oh, the toppings! The glazes, frostings, sprinkles, even bits of bacon. My personal favorite is a simple maple glaze.

Now, I heard about these donuts for a while before I tasted them for myself. Everyone promised me I would love them, and I figured I would because, hey, I like donuts. But I wasn’t able to understand the fullness of their glory without tasting them for myself, allowing me to experience them through my senses in a way that brought those promises to life.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good” works in the same way. It's an invitation to try out the promises of God, and as you do, you'll find that He is good.

PREPARING FOR THE FEAST

This is how I came to trust that God is good and trustworthy. It’s how I came to know that Scripture should be my source of truth and only guide for living. Several years ago my heart was gripped by the reality of what the Scriptures teach, and the eyes of my heart began to be enlightened (Eph. 1:18) to the truth of God’s word.

I began to understand that Jesus’ promise to be with us in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) was linked to our participation in disciple-making. I came to see that if I wanted to experience the power of God’s Spirit, I had to be engaged in speaking the gospel, the primary purpose for which the Spirit was sent (Acts 1:8). I realized that how I treated the poor and spent my money were measures of my faith and how much of my heart Jesus really had.

As I came to understand what the Scriptures were teaching, I had to know if it was true. I was tired of the supernatural stuff being stuck between the pages of Scripture. I wanted it to break out into my life in the here and now. So I started tasting.

TASTING DISCIPLESHIP

The first thing I “tasted” was discipleship. I had never been discipled one-on-one or as part of a group, so I didn’t really know what it looked like. But if it was the last thing Jesus said to do before ascending to his heavenly throne, it must be a big deal.

I read some books, talked to some people, and started praying for God to send me guys to disciple. I knew, based on materials I had reviewed, that one of the crucial elements in discipleship is availability – the person you disciple needs to be available to spend time learning to study and apply the Scriptures.

So I prayed along those lines. Within a couple of months, God made it clear who the guys were going to be. And the guys he sent me had just been laid off – making them highly available and incredibly open to learning and applying Scripture to their lives.

The next six months was a prolonged opening of my eyes. I had never really committed to investing in the lives of other men in the ways we see in the New Testament – spending time with them, encouraging them, challenging them, memorizing Scripture with them – which means I had never experienced the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in these awesome ways. I witnessed all of us grow closer to Jesus, and become more like him, as we spoke the truths of Scripture into one another’s lives.

I tasted the Lord and came to see that what God promised is true – that we sense Jesus’ nearness as we make disciples; that we tap into the power of the Spirit as we speak the gospel; and that wherever two or three gather in the name of Jesus, he is there with us (Matt. 18:20).

Not only are those things true but they are so, so good. For the first time in my life I felt like I was participating in the New Testament for myself and seeing the promises of Scripture come to life in my time.

Naturally, I wanted more. So I kept tasting.

TASTING MERCY

I was convicted by the materialism that ran rampant in my heart. I knew Jesus called us to put our treasure in heavenly things, not things of this world.

I read Luke 12:33 and didn’t see any wiggle room in the command to “sell your possessions and give to the needy.” At the same time, I wondered why Christians don’t use their homes for ministry as in the early church, and wrote an article suggesting ways to do so. One of my suggestions was to invite a homeless family to live with you, particularly if you live in the suburbs. So I started praying for God to show me what he wanted me to give up or to be open to.

A week later, I was notified at church that someone needed to speak with a pastor. I headed across the building to speak with them. After a couple of minutes of waiting, a mother came to me with tears in her eyes and told me the story of how she lost her home and ended up sleeping in her car. Her three kids were sleeping at their dad’s place so she could keep it a secret that they didn’t have a home anymore.

It was about a week before Christmas, so none of the normal referrals I would connect her with would be open, and she had no family nearby because she was an immigrant. As I was listening to her story, God showed me that this was what I had been praying for. I’m a middle-class guy with a wife and three kids in an affluent suburb—precisely what I had written about a week earlier. It was time to taste and see.

So on Christmas Day, this woman and her three children showed up at my house and spent the evening with my family. It was awkward at first. We didn’t really know each other well; my family wasn’t quite sure what we were doing; and my children moved into the same bedroom to make room for our guests.

But the discomfort was nothing compared to the blessing we received by having their family join ours for a time. We bonded with her children, and they joined our family worship times. We cooked meals together and laughed and cried together. That time transformed my family’s willingness to be obedient to whatever God calls us to do.

SWEETER THAN HONEY

So why do I trust God? How do I know He’s good? How do I know the Bible is true and its words are authoritative?

Because I have tasted God’s promises and seen that they are true. I have savored His goodness and found myself craving more.

Now, when I taste God’s Word, I have the same experience as Ezekiel. In a vision, God told the prophet to consume a scroll with his words written on it. As Ezekiel eats God’s words, he finds that “it was in my mouth as sweet as honey” (Ezekiel 3:3).

Scripture is not only the authority in and for my life, it is “sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb” (Ps. 19:10).

Grayson Pope is a husband and father of three as well the Managing Web Editor at GCD. He serves as Pastor of Community at his church in Charlotte, NC and has earneda MACS at The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Grayson’s passion is to equip believers for every day discipleship to Jesus.

Killing The Devil's Radio with the Gospel!

George Harrison of The Beatles was right when he referred to gossip as the “Devil’s Radio.” In an age of overabundance of information, it is easy to tune into the frequency of social media where news are often blown out of proportions. Perhaps, in no other generation like ours is discernment required to such a great degree. While the gospel calls us to confess our sins, gossip confesses other people’s sins. Gossip broadcasts people’s weaknesses and sins in a whisper while others tune into the frequency. But it is always wiser to put a hold on any given subject until we’ve gained a fuller picture. We are all transparent before the Holy Spirit who sees and knows all our thoughts. I am transparent to my wife and other elders who speak into my life biblically and truthfully.

Everything is naked and laid bare before God, to whom everyone must give an account (Heb. 4: 12, 13). I believe we are to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another as priests (Jas. 5:16).  I believe in the kind of transparency that Paul said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (I Cor. 11:1).  But what is often passed off as Christian transparency is sometimes-

Faux-honesty so often used as an excuse for voicing various kinds of complaints, doubts, accusations, fleshly desires, and other kinds of evil thoughts.  This exhibitionistic “virtue” is often paired with a smug self-congratulatory sneer or a condescending dismissal of anyone who dares to suggest that propriety and spiritual maturity may sometimes require us not to give voice to every carnal thought or emotion—i.e., that sometimes discretion is better than transparency.

Sometimes discretion may be better than transparency precisely because it takes spiritual maturity to be entrusted with confidential information.  In some cases, you’re in the middle of a conversation with someone and the gossip had already started. What should you do in such a case?

1. Listen objectively without taking sides and hold back judgments.

“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (Prov. 18: 17).  Listen with sympathy about the person being talked about, knowing that the person being talked about is not present to be able to defend himself/herself.  Don’t chime in or endorse!

In some cases, the person may come crying. When that happens, out of love for the person it is easy to believe everything the person says.  Sometimes, people cry not because they are innocent, but their burdens have become too heavy.  In such cases, tears can also be manipulative.

Think about when Esau returned from his hunt, he wept bitterly.  Esau was the victim of his own foolishness. He sold his birthright eagerly for a morsel of food to his brother, and when the blessing was given to Jacob (the swindler), he blamed it all on Jacob with tears—without admitting his own foolishness.  We are all skilled self-swindlers.  Besides it’s easy to feel sorry for the one who’s crying rather than the dry-eyed one–because when people cry, they can look like they’re the victim.  We must listen well with compassion, without being prejudiced in our discernment.

2. Gossip can destroy respect for the person being talked about.

It is wise to refrain from arriving at conclusions based on what you heard about the person. Gossip is second, third, or fourth hand information and when a morsel of truth is passed on, truth gets distorted and is diluted.

Even an element of truth becomes disproportionate and mixed up with personal opinions and judgments on the person’s character and reputation (sometimes this is done by well-meaning people).

For example: Person A may really respect person B, and because person A eagerly believed what he heard about person C say of person B, now person A has lost his trust and respect for person B (which may actually be partial truth but poisonous nonetheless).

Nothing may be as poisonous and destructive as gossip is in a community.

The Apostle James says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers” (4:10-11).  The word “speak against” is not necessarily a false report.  It can mean just an “against-report.”  The intent may be to belittle a person or be contemptuous.  It can mean to disdain, mock, or rejoice in purported evil.  These are subtler yet sinful forms of speaking against a person created in God’s image. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18: 21ff).  So we can either speak life or destroy a person with gossip.

3. Realize that chronic gossip is in itself a deep character problem.

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The tongue, James says “is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (3: 8).  Proverbs says that those who gossip are untrustworthy: “A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much” (Prov. 20:19).  In Asian cultures, group conformity tends to encourage people to avoid confrontations to the extreme, whereas in Western culture, individualism tends to  lead people to err on the opposite side of over confrontations (Mat. 18:10-15).  “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered” (Prov. 11: 13).  Those who gossip to you will gossip about you because they are not “trustworthy in spirit.”  In any case, prayerfully discern when to avoid the gossiper next time, or gently confront the sin (recognizing the ugliness of your own sin and the grace you have received) (Gal. 6: 1-2).

4. Pour water (not more fuel) to the fire.  

In other words, refuse to become a channel of gossip and walk in love (Eph. 5: 2).  Leviticus 19:16 says, “Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.  I am the LORD.”  Gossip is smearing a person’s character.  Gossip may involve details that are not confirmed as true.  It endangers a person’s credibility and can bring your neighbor’s reputation to ruins.  It is the opposite of the commandment to love your neighbor—who bear God’s image.  Even if the report being said about the person ends up being true, be hesitant to become a carrier of bad news.  Remember how instead of piling up all your bad records, Jesus has cancelled them on the cross (Col. 2:14).

Seek prayerfully for clarification; ask God, before you ask others, what to do with the bad report.  Proverbs 16:28 tells us how destructive gossip can become in relationships: “A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.”  Fight the urge to add more fuel to stir up “conflict” that separates close friends.  Satan is the master of division!

Someone once said that gossip is giving others some strife instead of peace.  It always brings more strife than peace! Gossip pours fuel on the conflict setting the entire community on fire.  It poisons relationships and multiplies misunderstandings.  Gossip never has positive outcomes!  Besides, there is a lot of truth that need not be passed around by people who are recipients of God’s lavish grace.

Gossip is always on the erring side because gossip is confessing other people’s sin without giving them the chance to repent.

Gossip is a like a terrible drug and very addictive.  For many, it is impossible to live without passing on bad news about someone, some churches or ministries because gossip has become a chronic illness.  Hence, gossip becomes an idol—something you can’t live with—something that gives you a false sense of superiority and self-righteousness over others.

The solution is not to simply try and control the tongue, because to be free from gossip an axe must be laid at the root of gossip.  “The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness” (Jas. 3: 6).  Therefore, the root problem of gossip is in the heart: “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Lk. 6: 45).  Pray and give room and time for grace, repentance, healing and restoration to take place in a relationship that has been torn by gossip.

“For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.” –Proverbs. 26: 20

With the passage of time, as the gospel takes root in the heart whisperers repent, and if no “whisperer” passes on gossip, quarrels and strife will cease.  John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”  Instead of kindling the fire of gossip, it must be killed.

While moralism flails at the branches, the gospel cuts to the roots of gossip.

Ultimately, Jesus was slandered on our behalf.  The Pharisees accused him of casting out demons by Beelzebul (the prince of demons) yet he was the purest of all (Matt. 12: 24).  All the accusations hurled at him were wrong.  Yet he endured them all on the cross for our sake.  He was accused of demon possession when he did not even know sin in purity.  Each one of us deserves to be put in His place, but we received what we did not deserve because of Him.

Even his most noble motives were challenged, yet in weakness he conquered the power of Satan, sin, and death. Jesus came not to condemn but to save sinners—which is the opposite of speaking against a brother or sister and hurting or destroying their reputation. In Christ, God offers us a clean heart, a new heart, with which we can honor our neighbors truthfully, and give praises to our God.

Do you struggle with gossip?  

1. There is nothing in our sinful nature that has not already been covered by the blood of Jesus, so confess your sins instead of other people’s sins.
2. Preach to your heart and say, “I am worse than what people think I am, but Jesus loves me more than I can ever imagine.  He already covered me with His own righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). Therefore, I am free to discern the evidence of God’s grace in others instead of lending wood to the fire of gossip.”

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Joey Zorina is a church planter in an artistic neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan.  He writes articles, essays and devotionals for Living Life, and blogs occasionally @regeneration).  He asks that you please pray for them and the Japanese.  You can connect with him at https://twitter.com/JoeyZorina

Prayer is the Most You Can Do

One of the things that have always captivated me about the life of Jesus is his constant communion with the Father. In one instance, Luke writes: “When Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples came and said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples’” (11: 1). Jesus chose a certain place to pray, but it was not the marketplace. He had a habitual communion with the Father. If Jesus (who knew no sin) needed to pray “in a certain place,” away from the distractions around him, how much more do fragile and weak people in modern societies, with all of its distractions, need to pray?

Prayer wasn’t a religious to-do checklist for Jesus.  For him prayer was like breathing. This was not an isolated event.  Elsewhere Matthew 14: 13 tells us: “[Jesus] withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.” And Mark 1:35 says, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

Or Matthew 14: 23, “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.  When evening came, he was there alone.”

Again Luke 6:12 says that, “He went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.”  Prayer is communion with the Father.  Jesus lived a prayer-saturated life during his ministry on earth.  So when the disciples saw him having communion with the Father in this way, they approached him.

Lord, teach us to pray

Looking up to the Lord as a much better (or more qualified) teacher than John the Baptist, they said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”  The disciples had seen John teaching his own disciples to pray, and they had seen Jesus praying to his Father earnestly.

Therefore, when they saw the communion that Jesus had with the Father through prayer they wanted that more than anything else.  Ironically, they did not ask, “Lord, teach us to preach, teach us to lead, teach us to disciple and do ministry” although they did all of these things later.

Their ministry would flow out of their relationship with the Father in prayer.  And so the first thing Jesus taught was this: “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name” (Lk. 11: 2).  We call God “Our Father” by His Spirit because of Jesus who went to the cross.  And so Jesus taught his disciples big God-sized global prayers. He taught them to pray for the hallowing of God’s name. And he taught them Kingdom-centered prayer (“Your Kingdom come”).

But why aren’t many of us confident in prayer? In Matthew 7: 9-11, Jesus awakens the disciples and us with a simple logic, when he said,

“Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

Idols prevent us from praying

Sadly, many of us do not feel the need to pray until disaster strikes in our countries or homes; or unless  cancer, physical debilitation, or great destruction shatters our pride to our great need of God.  More often than not, it’s our idols that prevent us from praying earnestly, because idols distract us from the more important things— like prayer.

The greatest barriers to living prayerful lives are not always bad things, but good things.

Bad things tend to make us pray, but not good things because bad things are not our most darling idols– good things are.  And these good things are blessings from God that we look to in order to give us comfort, security, safety, convenience and ease.  We can pull off all our organizations with managerial skills because we are a pragmatic people.  But prayer is spiritual so we find it to be the hardest thing to do.

Prayer, as simple as it sounds, is not simple for the vast majority of Christians when it comes to actually doing it, because everyone struggles to pray.  Sometimes, we don’t know how unspiritual we are until we start to pray.  I sometimes struggle to have prolonged periods of tarrying in prayer unless there’s a desperate need.

By God’s grace, I try to make it a habit to pray silently while in the train, workplace and leisure.  And though early morning prayers are often a struggle, the time I enjoy it most is at dawn.  Nothing is as revolutionary in the Christian life than to become a person of prayer.  But unless we put in prayer times as part of our daily schedule in our calendar, it will become harder for us to pray.

A common widespread misconception

In times of trouble, I’ve often heard people say: “The least we can do is pray.” I have probably said it too. But as a pastor once said: prayer is not the least we can do, but the most we can do.  What does prayer do?  Prayer tears down our self-reliance, and increases our reliance and confidence on God.  As Martin Luther (the reformer) said:

“None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience.  It is a great matter when in extreme need to take hold on prayer.”

And he went on to say,

“I know, whenever I have prayed earnestly, that I have been amply heard, and have obtained more than I prayed for.  God indeed sometimes delayed, but at last He came.”

Grace frees us from legalistic praying

Again, we pray not to become a righteous person, but because we are already declared righteous by God in Christ (2 Cor. 5: 21). We pray not because we have to, but because we want to. Resisting legalistic praying comes from an overflow of our confidence in Christ.  God’s grace frees us from legalistic praying. Grace frees us to come boldly before the Father and confess our sins to one another (Jas. 5: 16).  God’s grace frees us to pray for the hallowing of God’s name, as opposed to Pharisaical public praying that seeks to be seen by men (Matt. 6: 5).  We pray fervently not to become accepted by God, but because we are already accepted by him in Christ.  We pray not to feel better about ourselves and look down on others who don’t pray, but we pray so that we can lift up others who are in need, with love and humility.

Furthermore, we pray because we’re desperately in need of God’s intervention.  In Luke 9: 40  a father who had a boy with an unclean spirit approached Jesus with a great sense of helplessness.  He said, “I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” The disciples were not able to do anything with this particular case and neither could us.  Later on in Mark 9: 28-29 the disciples asked Jesus in private why they couldn’t cast it out, and he replied: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” 

The point is this: we are helpless and powerless over the kind of work that God is calling us to do.  We’re constantly in the middle of warfare (Eph.6).   So even in our disciple making, no matter how many hours we spend with people, we cannot aid the work of the Spirit in a person’s life without prayer.  This is why: in all that we do, praying is the most we can do.

The purpose of earnest prayer

I Peter 4: 11 says, “Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything (i.e., in all our speaking, disciple-making and serving) God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.  To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

The purpose of prayer is that we may repent from self-reliance and be prevented from saying, “We did it with our strength; we were clever and bright.” Or, “We had the credentials and the educational qualifications.”  Or that, “We were smart and gifted” or that, “We had the money and power backing us up.” Or that, “We had cleverly devised ideas borrowed from the corporate world.”  Or that, "We had the latest strategies on how to grow church.”

We might never confess it out loud, but our attitudes and actions can betray us and reveal where our ultimate confidence really lies.  The ultimate purpose of prayer is that we may serve, speak, sing, teach and lead with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God alone may be glorified.

As Jonathan Edwards said, “There is no way that Christians, in a private capacity, can do so much to promote the work of God and advance the kingdom of Christ as by prayer.” God’s purpose for us is that we get the joy of seeing him at work in the world through all of our work and prayers, and that He alone gets the glory.

God’s means of recruiting and moving workers for active service

Jesus said in Matt. 9: 37, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”  Japanese, for instance, are the 2nd largest unreached people group.  And Jesus' solution for recruiting workers is verse 38, which says, “Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  Jesus is sovereign! He is the Lord of the harvest.  There is a massive need for workers and our responsibility is to pray earnestly to God to send out laborers.

There is still a need for more workers, and so great is the harvest of souls around us that no single church, no single denomination, no single organization or a small network of Christian workers can accomplish the task.  There is a need for unity for a citywide, nation-wide Gospel-centered movement in Tokyo, Japan and the world.

Prayer is a God-ordained means for birthing that kind of unity and movement.

Moreover, we must also feel desperate in our prayers because there are desperate needs all around us. Desperate situation requires desperate measures and prayer is God’s means for us to feel desperate before him.  But when we pray we also rejoice with confidence knowing that Jesus is Lord of the harvest.  He’s the Great Farmer!  It is his harvest field.  The unreached peoples belong to him, and he is patient.  As we look around us, and the state of our times, prayer is essential more than ever.  With a great burden, Jonathan Edwards wrote in his day:

“The state of the times extremely requires a fullness of the divine Spirit in ministers, and we ought to give ourselves no rest till we have obtained it. And in order to [do] this, I should think ministers, above all persons, ought to be much in secret prayer and fasting, and also much in praying and fasting one with another. It seems to me it would be becoming the circumstances of the present day, if ministers in a neighborhood would often meet together and spend days in fasting and fervent prayer among themselves, earnestly seeking for those extraordinary supplies of divine grace from heaven, that we need at this day.” – Jonathan Edwards

All of us may not go to cross-cultural missions, though I hope many or most of us would. All of us may not be preachers, but all of us can pray “for extraordinary supplies of divine grace.”  We have been given the privilege to pray.  We’re told in James 5: 16, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”  As a people who have been declared righteous in Christ our prayers have “great power as it is working.”  How comforting it is to know that some of the most effective prayers were prayers prayed by men with nature like ours, and God answered with incomparable power.

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not train, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.  Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit” (vv 17, 18).

The goal of my prayer is that God be glorified in sending many into his harvest field among the unreached people groups.  Would you join us in praying for the mission fields to bear much Gospel fruit?

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Joey Zorina is a church planter in an artistic neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan.  He writes articles, essays and devotionals for Living Life, and blogs occasionally @outsidecampers and @regeneration).  He asks that you please pray for them and the Japanese.  You can connect with him at https://twitter.com/JoeyZorina

Our Daily Bread

I’ve never not had daily bread. Sure, when my siblings and I were growing up we complained, “There’s nothing to eat in the house!” We meant that there was nothing we wanted to eat (my mom had a strange affinity for cabbage and beans. In Jimmy Fallon’s words “EW!”). But there was always something to eat. Maybe that’s why I don’t routinely pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). It doesn’t fit within my experience. In modern Western culture, daily bread is often assumed.

Jesus’ teaching turned people’s religious ideas inside out and upside down.

Meals are planned out days or even weeks in advance. I don’t think to pray for bread. It’s just there. However, Jesus instructs his disciples to pray for daily bread, so if we call ourselves disciples, we need to grapple with what that means for us today.

Daily Bread Is Not the Norm For Everyone

Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount before crowds of poor peasants oppressed under Roman rule. Most workers in first-century Palestine were paid on a day-to-day basis with no assurance of tomorrow’s work. Illness, unjust governments, or changes in climate could all bring instant deprivation. These were people for whom daily bread was an uncertain part of life.

When Jesus tells his followers to ask their Heavenly Father for daily bread, he means food for sustenance. The Jewish mind inundated with the Exodus story would be reminded of Yahweh’s miraculous provision of manna in the wilderness. In the same way, the Israelites were called to trust God for their very sustenance, so now Jesus’ followers were called to trust the Father for their basic survival needs. This petition was a call to radical dependency on God.

This kind of dependence may be lost on many of us in developed countries, but it’s not lost on everyone. Hunger is still the norm for many people around the world. A variety of outside influences can spell out tragedy for families today just as it did in Jesus’ day.

I witnessed this in Southern Sudan during a visit in 2010. War had ravaged the land. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) controlled many of the resources. Children were orphaned. Crooked government drained outside aid. Families were destitute. When they prayed, “Give us this day our daily bread” it wasn’t symbolic sentiment offered as a religious rite. They were legitimately asking God to provide their next meal.

This experience made the petition for daily bread real to me. At the heart of the request utter dependence and childlike trust. Jesus wants his followers to ask and depend on God for their most basic needs.

How Should We Pray If Daily Bread Is Our Norm? 

So what do we do with Jesus’ word if our basic material needs are supplied? This question caused me to pause this week—especially from those of us who have abundant resources. I came away with two points of personal application that may be helpful in your prayer life.

– Repent of prideful independence and acknowledge total dependence on God. 

Americans have made a god out of independence. Few things are valued like the independent, self-sufficient man. We work hard, we get good jobs, and we provide for ourselves. Most importantly, we depend on no one. If we have daily food, it’s because we earned it. We’re proud of that.

What we fail to understand is God’s providential hand in everything. If you’re not worried about where you’ll get dinner tonight (and I don’t mean what farm the chickens were raised on!), it’s not ultimately because you’re a stellar businessman or know how to rock Groupon. It’s because a gracious, loving God has supplied you with abundance. 

God created, sustains, and governs the world in such a way that we are dependent on him for everything. He “gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). The next breath we take is dependent upon God’s provision, which means—brace yourself—we aren’t the independent, self-sufficient people we pride ourselves upon. We’re dependent beings. There’s a built-in Creator/creature distinction that no one escapes.

You have much less control over your life than you would like to believe. God determined the boundaries of your life—the family you were born into, your country of origin, where you live, the government you reside under, and the circumstances that got you the job. God placed you in an environment with the resources and opportunities you needed to flourish. He gave it, and he can take it away.

The Lord’s Prayer reminds you of this radical dependency. It gives you an opportunity for repentance, confession, and worship. Confess ways you’ve trusted in your work to provide for you and your family. Acknowledge your dependence on God for all your material needs, even your daily bread.

Praise God for the many blessings he’s given you. Thank him for the skills and resources he has provided. We’re so quick to complain about what we don’t have (money for all organic foods or to eat at trendy restaurants), not realizing how privileged we are. We have food! God has been good to us. Allow this to generate childlike worship in your life.

– Pray for your hungry brothers and sisters around the world. 

When you pray “Give us this day our daily bread” don’t miss the “us.” You won’t find a single singular pronoun in the Lord‘s Prayer. Personal requests are important but this prayer shows particular concern for the corporate body rather than the individual believer.

As I observed this, the need to pray for my brothers and sisters around the world hit me like a ton of bricks. My basic needs may be met, but many of theirs aren’t. We’re one family in Christ, so their burdens are my burdens. I’m fed, but they go hungry. This realization caused me to stop my studies and devote time to prayer!

Will you join me? As you pray “Give us this day our daily bread” would you petition the Father for hungry believers around the world? If so, here are specific things I’m praying for:

• The faith of believers to be strengthened so that they can ask and trust God for provision.
• Christian organizations to be well funded so that they can be on the front lines in the worldwide hunger crisis.
• Support for Christian orphanages, so that they can feed and house hungry orphans.
• Just governments to be put in place so that they can champion the cause of the hungry.
• Churches and Christians to grow in their generosity and sacrificial giving so that more resources can go to the hungry.

This list isn’t exhaustive. Pray as the Spirit leads. But pray!

Daily bread was a legitimate concern for Jesus’ original hearers, and it still is for many today. Allow this to break your heart and fuel your prayers for your local and global faith family. If you’ve been blessed with basic provision, acknowledge the Giver of all good gifts then pray for those who need daily bread.

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Whitney Woollard is passionate about equipping others to read and study God’s Word well resulting maturing affection for Christ and his glorious gospel message. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute and a Masters of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary. Whitney and her husband Neal currently live in Portland, OR where they call Hinson Baptist Church home. Visit her writing homepage whitneywoollard.com.

How We Read the Bible Matters

• I don’t really enjoy reading the Bible.
• I don’t get what a book written thousands of years ago has to do with my life today.
• I’m not really a reader.
• Did you know that people get drunk and have sex in the Bible?!
• I don’t understand what I’m reading.
• Did you know in the Bible there are these two people who were naked in the forest, eating fruit?
• I read the Bible everyday…Jesus Calling is my favorite.

These are all comments people have shared with me in regards to reading the Bible. One of them was from an 80-year-old grandmother, the other from a fourth grade student (bet you can’t guess which one).

So what is it about this book that is so complicated? Is it really that difficult to understand? Is it really relevant for today? What is going on with all the sex, drunkenness, murder, and naked people?

I didn’t grow up in the church, so my experience with the Bible was limited until I was about 20 years old. I just thought it was a list of rules to live by or some ancient book that told the story of the “two naked people in the forest, eating fruit.”

For many of us, perhaps we have learned that the Bible should only be opened on special occasions. Or that you should only turn to it when you want to feel good. Better yet, maybe you could just rip a verse out of context and make it mean what you what it to mean (hello, Jeremiah 29:11, anyone?).

It wasn’t until the Lord opened my heart to seek out truth that I discovered the life found on the pages of Scripture. And that’s when the paradigm shift happened: I learned that it’s not just if you read your Bible, but how you read it that will change everything. I learned a lie and three truths about the Bible that helped me understand who God is and what his plan is for us.

Let’s start with the lie.

Lie: The Bible is all about me

While the Bible is certainly for you, it is not all about you. It’s about God.

When we read the Bible, it’s to know and love God more. It isn’t to pull a verse out of context to apply like a Band-Aid; it isn’t to find a verse to thump those “in sin”; and it isn’t just to fill your head with more knowledge. It should produce a deeper understanding of God, a greater love for him, and lead us into worship.

Part of the reason I’m not a fan of many devotionals is they take you all over the place, pulling a verse here and there out of context, and slapping someone else’s meaning or application on it rather than reading an entire book of the Bible in its context.

Reading the Bible in a way just to “get something for me” is like only eating dessert at every meal. We all want it and it tastes delicious, but you can live off dessert. In the same way, if we only read for application, our diet of God’s Word won’t be sufficient. We need to observe what is happening and discover the meaning of the text to properly apply it.  This means we let Scripture interpret Scripture, or as my seminary professor would say, “We let the clear interpret the cloudy.” We look to other passages to help determine the meaning of the text we’re studying and allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Truth of God’s word. Understanding the literal, historical, and grammatical context will help reveal the correct interpretation of a passage, discovering what it first meant “back then” before we can understand how to apply it to our lives today. We also interpret correctly when studying within community or the context of the local church, under the leadership of elders and encouragement of other believers.

What a paradigm shift from what is sold to us in Christian bookstores: “Read this devotional for five steps to a better life!” That kind of me-focused-faith distorts what God’s Word is really for: to tell the redemption story of God’s people through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Truth: The Bible is meant to be studied

One of the best ways to help grow in the Word is to pick one book or section of Scripture and study it. Sit in the passage for a while, reread it, come back to it, look up words, and become familiar with it. Like a letter written to a loved one, you read it from beginning to end. So it is with books of the Bible.

Reading a book in its entirety changes how you understand it and, therefore, deepens your understanding of God and his redemptive plan. When we read, we read to observe (What do we see?), interpret (What does it mean?), and only then apply (How should it change me?).

When I began to study the Bible inductively (observation-interpretation-application), when I began to look for what it teaches me about God and how I fit into his greater story, the Bible came to life. Actually, it became my life. I enjoy reading the Bible, I see its relevance for my life and the world today, it increases my understanding of God, and it helps me know why all those people were getting drunk, having sex, and committing murder—to help me see that I am just like those people, a sinner in desperate need of a Rescuer.

Truth: The Bible has many applications, but only one meaning

While there are many translations of the Bible and many applications, Scripture has one meaning. Our job is to discover that meaning. We should never ask, “What does this verse mean to me?” but rather, “What does this verse mean?” Our job as readers and students of the Bible is to uncover the original meaning of the text, which reveals how it is relevant and applies to us today. Biblical truth can apply to us in many ways, but it only has one meaning.

Truth: The Bible is all about Jesus

The Bible is a collection of books and stories that point to a greater hero: Jesus. The Bible has 66 books, written over a time span of 1,500 years, by 40 different authors, in three different languages, on three different continents, about one message: God’s rescue mission for his people through the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Bible is a story meant to be read that points to One who makes the unrighteous, righteous; the unclean, clean; the outcast, redeemed; the sinner, a saint.

This paradigm shift helped me to understand the Bible and, therefore, to better love and understand God and live in obedience to him. What has anchored me in times of pain and suffering has not been a verse I ripped out of context to chant when I’m anxious or afraid, but studying God’s Word in a deeper way. It’s knowing his character through understanding the big picture of Scripture from beginning to end that helps me (and all of us) endure suffering.

How we read the Bible matters—reading it will change your life and shift your paradigm completely.

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Melissa Danisi serves at The Well Community Church in Fresno, CA and has been married for nine years. She spends her days encouraging and equipping women by teaching God’s Word and shepherding women. Her greatest passion is to see women walk in the freedom of the gospel and grow in their love of Jesus through the study of Scripture. She has written several bible studies and also enjoys one-to-one mentoring or small group discipleship. She is a graduate of Western Seminary, pursuing a M.A. in Ministry and Leadership with an emphasis in pastoral care to women. You can find her writing gospel-centered articles at selftalkthegospel.com, her church's blog , and her personal blog melissadanisi.com.

Adapted with permission from Unlocking the Bible 

Biblical Meditation As Experiential Reading

Perhaps one of the greatest ironies should be assigned to our current situation: we have more access to Scripture and its rich historical truths than ever before and yet we have in our churches an ever-increasing lethargy when it comes to the exploration of said truths. In other words, we have the Bible in our pockets with information at our fingertips and yet we lack a desire to experience the Word afresh. Maybe instead of calling it an irony we could call it a tragedy. The truth is, we have Study Bibles, Bible software, Bible studies, Bible apps, Bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, Bible lexicons, and voluminous works after voluminous works of history’s finest theologians—and we’re not any smarter, any more holy, or any more passionate about God and his Word. What’s the problem?

Biblical Meditation

In our drive-through Christianity in America, we value our time and our dollars, which means we don’t have the time or the capital to slow down and digest Scripture. Either we’re not hungry because we’re not walking with Christ, or we are hungry but we prefer the dollar menu rather than the fine dining banquet. We lack time and we lack passion.

Consequently, Biblical meditation requires us to swim upstream from our culture. When the Apostle Paul challenged Timothy to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15, KJV), I can’t believe for one second that he meant it should be easy.

Biblical meditation is when the Spirit-filled reader ruminates on the word of God and is shaped by the Spirit to its message. When a person desires to meditate on the Word as we are told to do often in Scripture (e.g., Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2, 19:14, 119:97-99, 143:5; Eph. 4:17-18), she reads the words on the page, brings its truth to mind, ponders it in light of what it says about God and herself, and seeks to apply it to every aspect of her being. While many various eastern religions emphasize the “emptying” of one’s mind, Christian meditation emphasizes the filling of one’s mind so as to align with the Triune God.

Experiential Meditation

It is my contention that in order to have a healthy spiritual life built on sound, fervent, and frequent meditation on Scripture, we must do so experientially. This is by no means a new concept, for the Puritans built their ministries on this concept. What does it mean to mediate on the Bible experientially? Simply put, we are to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5).

Experiential Bible meditation is different from what’s practiced by many Christians today. Typically the Bible is read in a superficial way. The words are read in our minds or even aloud, and instead of getting out the exegetical shovel and doing the hard labor, we move on to the next thing. (Hence the appeal to short devotional readings—we don’t have time to spend processing and pondering a passage, so we need someone to help us get a little nugget and get it quickly).

In our 140-character world, it’s no wonder we can’t dig deep and do honest experiential Bible meditation. We’re trained to consume short amounts of information, oftentimes sharing an article on Facebook, for example, because of the headline instead of actually reading the entire article.

Inevitably, this type of consumption of content breeds spiritual lethargy. Therefore, we must slow down and return to experiential meditation—the process whereby we take a verse, or a set of verses and we spend time allowing our hearts, minds, souls, and hands to be shaped by the Spirit through the Word. It’s not enough to just read the Bible; the Bible must read us. Meditation is the key to experiential Bible reading. Instead of just reading words and passively processing them, true experiential meditation ought to stir the heart and motivate the hands. To read the Bible is to simply hold up a mirror. To read the Bible experientially is to gaze upon the mirror with inquisitive wonder.

Experiential Christian Living

So how does this work? What does it practically look like? To meditate biblically is to read the Bible through the power and promises of God in Christ. Bible reading ought to point us to Christ and the implications of his Kingdom in the world. Not only do we mediate on the Word for knowledge and understanding, we meditate on the Word for practice and piety. Orthodoxy leads to orthopraxy. The Christian life consists of theology going in and doxology going out; doctrine in the heart and mind, worship with our lives. We dare not only hear the word; we must do the word, too (Jas. 1:22).

Biblical, experiential meditation means that we focus in on what the Holy Spirit inspired so we align our heads, hearts, and hands with what God intends to impress upon the soul. The head, heart, and hands paradigm coincides with repentance, faith, and mission.

• Repentance (Head) – When reading Scripture, we should, like King David, weep. “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping” (Ps. 6:6). The reason many people fail to exhibit righteous behavior and the fruit of the Spirit is because in our efforts to follow Jesus, we’ve forgotten about repentance. The Christian life is a life of ongoing repentance. If we wish to follow Jesus into the world, we must follow him with repentant hearts. The reason this must start in the head? “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). When our minds are renewed and refreshed, our hearts follow along. Instead of being deceived by our hearts (Jer. 17:9), we can be guided by the truth—the Word of God. Biblical, experiential meditation on Scripture aims to answer the question: “What sin have I let run amuck in my heart?” This type of meditation requires a true examination of self before God in his presence in front of his Word.

• Faith (Heart) – The charge of experiential meditation focuses on the gospel of King Jesus which corresponds with the Apostle Paul’s words: “[A] love…from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). Because the mind is prone to wander, the heart is not far behind. Instead of shrinking back into a lethargically obtuse spirituality, experiential meditation ought to push us to “draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22). We read the Bible to know not just about God, but to know God. When the Spirit works in us, he works via the means of his inspired Word. The Bible ought to be stuffed deep in the soul so our hearts are set on fire with a passion for the glory of God. It does no good to read the words of Scripture at the surface—we must plunge ourselves by faith into the Word of God so the Spirit can change us. It takes time, energy, focus, and affection. The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, so step one is to acknowledge our brokenness. We can then rely on the promises that he is near us, challenging us to grow with a heart full of child-like faith.

• Mission (Hands) – It’s not experiential if it doesn’t lead us to act. The Spirit works in the life of Christians who make it their practice to meditate on Scripture producing heads full of repentance, hearts full of faith, and hands toiling for the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58). Part of the reason the American church has been lazy in mission is because we’ve been lazy to pursue a heart of faith and repentance. It does no good to talk about disciple making if we can’t get the full-orbed Christian life straightened out. The mission of disciple making and maturing cannot flourish if the mind and heart is not full of the gospel. Biblical, experiential meditation fuels mission. When we are saturated in the Word of God because we’ve gazed into the mirror of God’s Word, love in action for our homes, church, neighborhoods, and cities is the result. We want experiential disciples who make disciples who make more disciples. We can’t do this without loving others and we can’t love others when we do not love the Lord.

Experiential meditation on the Word of God isn’t an end to itself; it begins as a life transformed from the inside out. It is the duty of God’s people to shape their minds through godly repentance, aligning their affections with hearts full of faith in a very big God, while cultivating a life of obedience to what God has tasked us with: discipling all nations.

Ultimately, experiential meditation does not make us more righteous. Reading the Bible doesn’t some how magically transform your standing before the Throne of God. The righteousness you need is in Christ and you have every last ounce of it. Experiential meditation helps us live in light of the righteous standing you have before God and leads us to a vibrant, difficult, real, sorrowful, joyful, and holistic walk with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You have been justified by his grace through faith, so now you can go in that same inebriating, experiential grace and live an abundant life for his glory.

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Rev. Jason M. Garwood (M.Div., Th.D.) serves as Lead Pastor of Colwood Church in Caro, MI and author of Be Holy and The Fight for Joy. Jason and his wife Mary have three children, Elijah, Avery and Nathan. He blogs at www.jasongarwood.com. Connect with him on Twitter: @jasongarwood.