Justin Huffman 7/2/17 Justin Huffman 7/2/17

The Cataclysm That Is Conversion

Reelfoot Lake is a shallow natural lake, not far from Memphis, Tennessee, where I grew up. It is noted for its bald cypress trees and its nesting pairs of bald eagles. But it is perhaps best known as the lake that was formed almost overnight as a result of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1812, when the Mississippi River flowed backward for 24 hours to fill it. Based on the effects of these earthquakes, it can be estimated that they had a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquakes were felt strongly over roughly 50,000 square miles. As a result of the quakes, large areas sank into the earth, new lakes were formed, and the Mississippi River changed its course. This is how Reelfoot Lake came into being. Where once there had been dry land, there now was a lake encompassing 25,000 acres and teeming with wildlife.

A Momentous Upheaval

The dictionary defines a cataclysm as “a momentous upheaval that brings about a fundamental change.” And while the formation of Reelfoot Lake certainly qualifies as a cataclysmic event, there are even more significant, more impressive upheavals that have occurred throughout history. One such cataclysm took place one day, around noon, in the heart a man named Paul. It’s recorded for us in Acts chapter 9.

In Acts 8, Paul was ravaging the church, breathing out threats and murder against Christians everywhere. Paul gives his own description of his efforts in Acts 26:10-11:

I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Why was Paul so venomously opposed to Christianity? Because the salvation by grace that Jesus Christ taught would have made all of Paul’s own careful, law-abiding, pharisaical deeds useless and unimpressive. According to Jesus, salvation came freely by grace, through faith, not works. Paul would later post his list of legalistic accomplishments in Philippians 3:4-6:

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

The idea that anyone—regardless of their ethnic identity, moral record, or religious heritage—who believed on Jesus Christ would have everlasting life was repugnant to Paul. And so he persecuted those of “this Way” (Acts 9:2), even pursuing them to Damascus, about one week’s journey from Jerusalem.

However, as he drew near to Damascus, Jesus met Paul in person on the road. Paul tells us that at midday he saw a light from heaven, brighter than the noonday sun (26:13), and that the others who were with him heard a noise and saw a light, but they heard no voice and saw no man (9:7; 22:9). Paul was struck blind by the light, but his eyes were opened to the reality of Christ. He heard Jesus speak, and Paul asked the wise question, “Who are you, Lord?” The answer—that he was encountering the resurrected Jesus Christ—changed his life fundamentally and forever.

A Delightful Surprise

God delights in surprising his saints; so much so that he tells us to expect to be surprised. Anything less is described as “little faith.”

Why is this? Because little faith forgets to ask the question: “Who are you, Lord?” Conversely, strong faith, right faith understands who God is, what he is capable of, and what he has promised to do. Thus, in Acts 9 we find strong faith in one of the most unlikely and surprising places imaginable—the persecutor Paul. His greatest fear has come true, yet he found it his greatest joy in the end. He shares his delight in Philippians 3:8: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

Paul wasn’t the only one who was surprised: the saints in Damascus, who had heard of and dreaded Paul’s menacing approach to their city, were shocked to find him the newest convert to Christianity. The persecutor had become an apostle! Paul is not alone in history either. John Newton was converted from the life of a slave trader to a hymn writer and preacher; C.S. Lewis was converted from devout atheism to become the foremost Christian apologist of the twentieth century; Chuck Colson was converted from thieving and deception to ministry and evangelism.

C.S. Lewis called this unexpected, irresistible act of grace being “surprised by joy.” He marveled afterward that he had discovered this vital truth: “necessity may not be the opposite of freedom.” In other words, being saved by grace does not mean you lose your freedom; it means you are delivered from inescapable bondage.

A Gracious Pattern

What lessons are we meant to draw from Paul’s miraculous, cataclysmic conversion? Is this just an interesting piece of Paul’s overall biography, or does it have greater implications?

Certainly he experienced a momentous upheaval that brought about a fundamental change. In the formerly dry, legalistic land of Paul’s heart God created a teeming lake of life and faith. But is this Reelfoot-like conversion a reflection of real life, or just Paul’s extraordinary-but-individual experience? Does it only happen once or twice a century, to gifted people like Paul, or Newton, or Lewis, or Colson?

Paul himself applies the lesson for us, telling us that this was a conversion, not just for Paul, but for all. In 1Timothy 1:15-16, Paul writes: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me…Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” Paul’s conversion was an example of what God is doing in everyone who believes in him. While we will not all have the exact same experience as Paul (some might!), every one of God’s children are saved by the same Spirit that arrested Paul on the road to Damascus. We each encounter Christ, through God’s grace, and we are all called to personal service and ministry.

In recording the cataclysmic conversion of Paul, Luke wants us to see the impossibility of Paul’s conversion, then the ease and completeness of it. The persecutor became, in a moment, the apostle of Jesus Christ. What encouragement this account brings to struggling sinners, who perhaps think their case too hard for God, or to discouraged disciple-makers, who perhaps think the case of others too hard for God!

In Galatians 1:15-16, Paul speaks of his conversion, that “when he who had set me apart before I was born” moved in Paul’s life, God “called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me.” This, we must remember, is a pattern for all who would, after Paul, believe on Jesus Christ for eternal life.

The marvelous truth of the gospel is that cataclysmic conversions are happening every day, around the world, as the Spirit of God moves to make children of God out of those whom he has separated from their mother’s womb. Reelfoot lakes of life and faith are formed in the hearts of awe-struck people as they experience the momentous upheaval of God’s grace in their lives. And by that same grace that caught Paul unexpectedly, we are surprised by joy.

Justin Huffman has pastored in the States for over 15 years, authored the “Daily Devotion” app (iTunes/Android) which now has over half a million downloads, and recently published a book with Day One: Grow: the Command to Ever-Expanding Joy. He has also written articles for For the Church, Servants of Grace, and Fathom Magazine. He blogs at justinhuffman.org.

Lydia Brownback 6/29/17 Lydia Brownback 6/29/17

Finding God in my Loneliness

Giving way to panic has proven helpful in a crisis—said no one ever. Yet panic is the natural response of those who fixate on their circumstances rather than on Christ. Didn’t Peter prove this when walking on water? So long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he made forward progress, but the minute he turned his gaze to the wind and the waves, he began to sink. Peter panicked (Matt. 14:22–30). We often do the same thing when the wind and the waves of loneliness threaten to sink us. If we aren’t fixed on Jesus—and if we don’t view life through a biblical lens—we’re going to try to fight those waves ourselves, and eventually we will go down. Panicked swimmers often drown.

Lie: Loneliness Is Pure Evil

Heightening the waves of loneliness is this myth: “Loneliness is a result of something bad, and therefore no one should have to experience it.”^[1] If we believe that, we’re going to use everything we’ve got to fight against it. We will have no peace, no joy, and no delight in the Lord. And we will never find our way out of the water.

Let’s take a closer look at that myth. Is loneliness really the result of something bad? On one hand, God did say that it’s not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). So in that sense, yes, aloneness—and its accompanying loneliness—is not good. Yet we can’t escape the fact that it was God himself who made Adam and then put him in the garden all alone. Sin hadn’t even entered the world yet. In other words, Adam’s aloneness was God’s doing, and God did it so that Adam—and all human beings after him—would yearn for companionship. God went on to provide a wife for Adam; however, “he never designed marriage to fulfill the incompleteness or eradicate the aloneness. Rather, it more fully reveals our need for our ultimate destiny—to be in union with him.”^[2] So from the beginning man’s aloneness wasn’t good per se, but that wasn’t the end of the story. No, God went on to provide the remedy for it. So there’s no need to panic. The emptiness that so often accompanies aloneness—loneliness—is meant to be filled to the full with Christ.

Lie: I Shouldn’t Have to Be Alone

So aloneness isn’t all bad after all. And since that’s the case, we can’t really claim that no one should have to experience it. To the contrary, since God designed us to yearn for connectedness, it stands to reason that we must experience loneliness. Apart from that, we’d be prone in our natural selfishness to isolate ourselves so we can have everything in life our own way, never having to bend to the wishes and needs of others. Without a biblical perspective, we will see loneliness as utterly bad, as something to avoid at all costs. And we will panic.

The voice of panic says,

I’m the only one who’s home alone tonight.

He’s less than ideal, but if I don’t marry him, I might never have another chance.

Being alone is going to ruin my health.

If God were truly good, he wouldn’t leave me in this lonely situation.

God says,

Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (Josh. 1:9)

I will never leave you nor forsake you. (Heb. 13:5)

And Jesus said,

Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matt. 28:20)

What happens when we panic? Our heart races; we can feel the blood pound. A sense of desperation rises up in our throat—we can almost taste it. And then our mind scrambles to latch on to a way out, and at this point, any way will do. If you’re like me, those moments occur most frequently after sundown. Sometimes I dread the night. How will I make it through another one all alone? And why must I? That’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? Panic so easily morphs into rebellion. Once that happens, we’ve turned away from God rather than toward him. We reject God’s comfort and turn to whatever escape is nearby—television, Facebook, food, alcohol, sleep. We don’t want comfort on God’s terms, so we say, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Yet if we insist on life on our terms, we will only entrench our loneliness.

Lie: I Can Fix This Myself

Sometimes our escape methods are significantly more sophisticated. We don’t settle for that simple evening escape; we strategize a radical life-turnaround. And indeed there are times when undertaking a significant change might be a wise approach. God’s blessings often come to us by means of our own activity, and a pressing weight of loneliness might be the very thing God is using to redirect our path. But if the only available options for change are biblically questionable or if godly friends express reservations about our plans, then we are wise to reconsider. And even when it’s all systems go, there is no guarantee that our loneliness will be remedied as a result. The bottom line is, we can’t fix our loneliness; we haven’t been created with that capability. We can alter our aloneness, but not our loneliness.

The Light of Truth

So what’s our goal? That’s a good question to ask ourselves if loneliness is compelling us to consider a major life change. If we are believing the lies—aloneness is bad, I shouldn’t have to be lonely, and I can fix my loneliness—then those lies are going to drive us. That relocation we’re considering might open all kinds of new doors, but it won’t necessarily solve loneliness. Signing on with Match.com might result in a relationship, but there’s no guarantee it will remedy loneliness. The church across town has a lot more people, but leaving a small church for a larger one can backfire as a loneliness remedy. On the other hand, if we’re lonely because we have no Christian fellowship or Bible-believing church to attend, then making a change is a wise plan.

[1] Barnes and Bock, “5 Myths and Truths in Loneliness.”

[2] Ibid.

Lydia Brownback, author of several books and speaker at women’s events internationally, is passionate about promoting biblical doctrine with a high view of God. Lydia works on the editorial team at Crossway Books, and before that she served as writer-in-residence for Alistair Begg and as producer of The Bible Study Hour radio program with James Montgomery Boice.

Jennifer Brogdon 6/27/17 Jennifer Brogdon 6/27/17

Take Delight in Growing Up

Kids want to grow up. We see the excitement on their faces when it’s “Show and Tell” day at school. Kindergarten classes across the nation create a special day for kids to dress up and proudly announce what the many years of school in the future will be in pursuit of. Consequently, three-foot-tall firemen, teachers, doctors, and athletes decked in costume from head to toe drag whatever props necessary and get to pretend their dreams have come true for a few hours. When I was a young girl, I gave myself an extra middle name. I proclaimed to everyone I met at the grocery store, doctor’s office, and my school that my name was Jennifer-Lauren-Big Girl-Cooper. This title proved my big-ness and so did my liking for coffee. I took on coffee drinking (and never stopped thankfully) and the reading of the newspaper in the mornings with my dad. Even more, I told every waiter I was too big for the kids’ menu and too big for a booster seat and too big for my britches—though I didn’t mention the obvious.

As I wanted to become more like my parents—the grown-ups, I watched, asked questions, and mimicked all while they smiled (or laughed) at my doing so. Likewise, my daughter instinctively (and with some practice) reaches milestones of development, and we, too, take much joy in watching while she, in turn, delights to see our joy. In a similar way, our Heavenly Father delights (yet infinitely more) in seeing his children grow, and we also have joy in learning everything about him and understanding his love for us.

But this desire to grow-up does not remain. One day, which seems like in the blink of an eye, we stop wanting to grow-up because we fear growing old. Better yet, we may get bogged down with the monotony of life. There’s nothing left to look forward to. Every day repeats itself. Wrinkles set in. Exercise hurts more. The good days are gone. The days of carrying around the Hello Kitty lunchbox without condemnation are gone. Growing up didn’t live up to its expectation (or so we think).

We Should Want to Grow Up Too

As Christians, many of us go through a similar season. A point came where we heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and put our faith in him—repenting from our sinful ways. We took great delight in his Word filled with promises, stories, and hope. We saw the more spiritually mature Christians (and hopefully Jesus) and wanted to grow to be like them. We wanted to read the Bible, memorize it, and live it. We graciously delighted in it, and our Father exploded with joy in the heavens. But we grew weary of growing and stalled, not because God is not faithful but because of our lack in perseverance. The everyday spiritual disciplines became a chore though they shouldn’t, and God felt like someone you knew too well (although he’s unsearchable).

I’ve gone through seasons of devouring the Word and seasons of fighting to desire the smallest piece of it. I’ve discipled girls who week in and week out justify how they didn’t have much time for God’s word. Sadly, I guarantee they took the time to eat three meals a day. They realized the importance of food for their body, and they want it, too. It’s delicious. It even brings comfort.

A few verses to illustrate:

“I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.” –Job 23:12

“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that ma does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” –Deuteronomy 8:3

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” –Psalm 119:103

“As newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” –1 Peter 2:2

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.” –Jeremiah 15:16

God’s word is more delightful than honey and dark chocolate and filet mignon and scalloped potatoes and sweet tea and dare I say—coffee! Oh, how we should feast on it and be filled!

Five Ways to Eat the Word

My pastor Dustin Cook and his wife have taught me these five ways to eat God’s Word through years of teaching, relationship, and mentoring. We eat Scripture by hearing it, reading it, memorizing it, meditating on it, and studying it. Below we will look at each:

– Hearing the Word

We hear the good news of the gospel—either audibly through another Christian or from his written Word—in order to put our faith in Christ (Rom. 10:17).
We hear pastors preach the Word (hopefully) and receive it with all eagerness while testing its validity according to the scriptures (Acts 17:11).
We hear it in fellowship with other believers as they exhort, rebuke, or comfort us (Heb. 10:24-25, 2 Cor. 1:3-5, Gal. 6:1)
We hear from God himself by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rev. 3:20, Is. 50:4).

– Reading the Word

We read the Word every day so that we may fear God and obey him in humility (Deut. 17:18-19).
We read all of the Word, Old Testament and New Testament, for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).

– Memorizing the Word

We memorize scripture because God commands us to (Prov. 7:1-3, Col. 3:16, Deut. 6:6, Prov. 22:17-21).
We memorize scripture to avoid sin (Ps. 119:11, Prov. 15:28).
We memorize scripture to fight Satan (Matt. 4, Eph. 6:17).
We memorize scripture to share it with others (1 Pt. 3:15, Jer. 20:9, 1 Thess. 2:13).

– Meditating on the Word

We meditate on the Word by talking to ourselves, reflecting, pondering, and exercising our minds with the purpose to renew our fleshly mind into the mind of Christ and to better apply what we learned (Josh. 1:8, Ps. 1:2-3, Jas 1:25, Lk. 6:45, Phil. 4:8, Col. 3:2).

– Studying the Word

We diligently study God’s Word to have a right understanding of it (2 Tim. 2:15).
We study the Word to teach it (Ezra 7:10).
We study the Word to recognize false teachers (2 Pt. 3:16).

All five of these ways to feast on the Word of God causes growth in the believer if put to practice. Scripture teaches that we should read the Word and be in God’s presence (Ps. 119:147-148). The final three methods of memorizing, meditating, and studying may call for specific times. We must put these into practice first. Then, share it with others. As result, we will grow and make disciples who grow as well..

Kids want to grow up. They delight in the process and even try to hasten it. We, too, should delight in the process towards spiritual maturity. What a privilege it is to grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ! May we feast on God’s Word and allow it to nourish us as God intended it to.

Jennifer Brogdon is a stay-at-home mom who ministers to college athletes and international students. She and her husband, Shane, live in Mississippi and are preparing to move overseas long-term. For more of her writing, you can check out her blog or follow her on Twitter.

Chelsea Vaughn 6/25/17 Chelsea Vaughn 6/25/17

Where You Go I Will Go

I boarded the airplane feeling like such an adult. I was all alone and heading to a new city for an awesome job interview. My arms and legs were electrified with excitement. I had complete assurance in what God had planned for me, so taking these steps seemed so easy. The young girl next to me turned and offered me a piece of gum which I kindly refused, but asked, “Are you from Nashville?” She said, “No, but my family is. I go to school in Virginia Beach. Are you?” I replied, “No, I’m actually just heading there for...” My throat closed. Water spilled out from my eyes. “Oh gosh, I am so sorry. I didn’t expect this emotion to come up right now, forgive me.” Humiliated, I took a minute to get myself together and finish our conversation. Grief. It’s unexpected, inconvenient, and heavy. It bombards our thoughts, our actions, and our hopes in ways that we can’t plan around. It is present with every heartbreak, every loss, and every transition.

I know transition all too well. The Lord knows my life has been full of them. When it’s time for a transition, I know how to process what I am leaving, and how I typically respond to the discomfort of newness. The frustrating thing is that it’s not any easier to grieve. The pit in my stomach still occurs. The tightening in my chest is just as consuming. The uncontrollable crying remains relentless.

I discovered most recently that I’ve learned how to deal with change by myself and with God. I can handle it if I can retreat, take my time, and then very slowly re-enter into normal life and relationships. This pattern is a well thought out way of dealing with grief the way I know how. But what if God has something more for me? What happens if I am so busy processing my own grief that I neglect the people around me?

I am moved by the story of Ruth. A woman whose faithfulness surpassed her grief. Her husband dies, her brother-in-law dies, and she turns to Naomi to say, “I will follow you.” Even when Naomi turns to bitterness, isolation, and inner turmoil, Ruth remains steadily focused on her purpose. It is absolutely crucial that we reflect on Ruth 1:14 because we miss the point if we miss this verse.

In verse 13, Naomi lays out the reasonable truth that the two girls really should return to their homes to find refuge after such a tragedy, and prepare for their next marriage and family. Anyone would agree that this is the wise choice according to every standard of the world. The Spirit then reports, “Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her” (v. 14). It is not that Ruth denies the tragedy or the real grief that came after. She feels the pain of loss. She lifts her face and shouts out cries of angst, and she unapologetically weeps. Notice it says, “they” lifted their voices. They expressed together. The difference is that after this outward expression of grief, Ruth doesn’t isolate into inward grief. She clings to her mother-in-law and conveys, you won’t do this alone- I’m going with you. I’m going to the deepest, darkest places with you. I’m going to share shelter, I’m going to share community, I’m going to share fellowship with God. Ruth responds with overwhelming humility. She refuses to take personal refuge, but insists on shared refuge.

God intends for grief to be healed both personally and in community, but it seems like our society has lost the humility it requires to share grief. Instead, we look like Orpah. We cry for a minute then get up, dust off our knees, and go home to take care of ourselves. We have lost Ruth’s beautiful depiction of humbly submitting ourselves to community. We have something to learn from her willingness to abandon herself and cling to someone. I want to be the person who can shamelessly cling to someone who knows my heart, is trustworthy, and is following God even through the pain.

I have seen my tendencies to isolate inwardly in this season. I am a nanny, and my life looks unbelievably different than it has for the past few years. It is humbling, it is exhausting, and it is also rewarding. I often feel hope, defeat, and loneliness in the timespan of an hour. One hour. When I have time to take for myself, I could easily retreat to process these things in the safety of my own home. I could find comfort within the small spaces of my own inner struggle. Or I could find fellow warriors who will be a support in this crazy transition. I could invite people into the process of grief, hope, and new rhythms. If I don’t do it now, then I may lose a lot of opportunities God has planned for me.

On my third day being a nanny, I was on the verge of a breakdown. My sweet little one ate something spicy and had a complete meltdown in the middle of the place we were eating. I made her plate, so it was clearly my fault. I was embarrassed, exhausted, and at the end of my rope. All I could think was, “Oh gosh, take me home.” After she calmed down a little, we began playing with toys, and she was recuperating from the meltdown, but I wasn’t. I couldn’t get myself out of the funk. I just wanted to escape home. In this exact moment, she curiously looks up at me and says, “Do you have a family?” Taken off guard, I replied yes. To which she said, “Can you tell me about them?”

The girl is three. She can’t know how this spoke to me. It was God saying, “Hey, it’s okay to feel what you’re feeling. It’s not okay to believe that you’re all alone.” The Spirit knows us in our grief, the Son knows us in our grief, and the Father knows us in our grief. Let’s allow God’s people to know us in our grief, too. We would experience fellowship in ways we’ve never known it. We will also experience disappointment, because people don’t know how to do this just like we don’t. No one is capable of carrying your grief, and we should never have the expectation that they can. Ruth didn’t carry Naomi; she just walked with her. Our lives would change if we humbly submitted to community. If we had the boldness to invite people to follow us into the grief.

The beautiful part about grief is that we share intimately with the suffering that Christ endured. He didn’t bypass the painful reality of sin and death, of loneliness and betrayal, but he took it on himself to feel deeply. He cried out to the Father in desperation. It’s my belief that when we grieve, we’re actually experiencing a deep union with Jesus that we can’t feel anywhere else. We get to know him and be known by him, and it’s a surreal thing when we can see a glimpse of that process in someone else. There’s a grace in patiently and quietly walking with someone in their process because we see God’s nature. It takes fearlessness and such trust to do this, and to prayerfully endure. It is so worth it when we get to see the Church walk in dependence first on God and second on one another. I hope the toil of our grief results in the fruit of our community.

Chelsea Vaughn (@chelsea725) is currently living in Nashville but has spent time in Texas, Thailand, and Australia. Obviously travel is a passion, along with hours in the kitchen or across the table from good friends. She does freelance writing, editing, and speaking for various organizations and non-profits. She hopes to spend her life using her gift for communication to reach culture and communities with the love of Jesus.

Aaron Morrow 6/22/17 Aaron Morrow 6/22/17

Small Towns Need Missionaries

This article is adapted from Aaron Morrow’s Small Town Mission: A Guide for Mission-Driven Communities. Get your copy today!

I grew up on a farm.

Tractors, cattle, crops, big machinery, freezing cold winters, too many cats, and a marathon bus ride to school every morning. That’s right, I grew up on a farm. And that farm was next to a small town that my family and I called home. I’ve lived in small towns for most of my life, even after I moved away from the herd of cats. The small towns I’ve lived in may not be as cool as Austin or have the trendy conveniences of Seattle, but small towns will always be a part of who I am. If you live in a small town, you might know what I mean.

According to the US census, just over half of our population lives in towns, boroughs, villages, and townships with fewer than 25,000 people or in rural areas. Meanwhile, thousands of Christian books are published every year and hundreds of these are about mission and reaching people for Christ. Many of them have insightful and helpful ideas about mission that can be applied anywhere, but many of their ideas don’t seem to work in small towns. We should be thankful for resources like these, but we also need resources written specifically for mission in small towns.

A friend at my church has said that books about reaching people in closed countries in the 10/40 window relate best to mission in small towns because residents often have hardened religious mindsets and impenetrable circuits of relationships. My friend is probably exaggerating the comparison, but I understand what he’s saying because mission in small towns can be incredibly difficult and complicated.

KEEPING THE END IN MIND

Mission is not the ultimate goal of our lives. Pastor John Piper writes,

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

We are designed to be worshippers of Jesus who find our identity in him. Imagine if you found your identity in being on mission and successfully winning people to Christ. If that’s you, eternity will jolt you because there are no unbelievers in heaven. Let’s keep the perspective that being on mission is a temporary necessity. From now through eternity, Jesus should be the focus and goal of everything we do, including being on mission to reach people with the gospel. While mission isn’t the ultimate goal of our lives, worshippers of Jesus are on mission because it’s the indisputable by-product of worshiping him. My hope and prayer is that many people in your town will turn to Jesus and worship him with you.

REGULAR FOLK

Small towns are in desperate need of missionaries. When I say missionaries, I’m not referring to the pastor of your church or people who suffer for Jesus by building huts and preaching to native islanders. No, I’m referring to regular people. Small towns desperately need normal, everyday people like farmers, factory workers, teachers, secretaries, and small business owners who think and act like missionaries to reach their friends, neighbors, co-workers, and extended families for Christ. Pastors in small towns should be deeply respected for their incredible hearts to advance the gospel. However, the responsibility of mission is given to all believers, not just pastors. If you are a Christian, you are sent to be on mission regardless of where you live or what your job is.

BUILDING FENCE

Almost every resource about mission is based on a certain way of doing ministry. Some resources seem to take a self-righteous tone by telling us and our church how to do ministry in our town. That’s not my goal. We’ve all read books or articles like that and found them a bit off-putting. My goal is to help you better understand principles of mission in small towns instead of offering a rigid prescription for you and your church. In the matter of mission in your town, remember to follow the lead of your church’s leaders because Scripture is clear that they are the ones you must submit to (Hebrews 13:17). My hope is to come alongside your church, not to replace the authority of your church’s leaders.

One of my least favorite jobs on the farm was building fence. My dad always said he felt great satisfaction after making a well-built fence. I have no idea what he was talking about. If you’ve never built a wire fence, it’s actually much harder than it seems. But I did manage to learn that an important part of successfully building a wire fence is to have a series of anchor posts that will support the rolls of wire. Similarly, our study of mission in small towns requires a few unique anchor posts to support it.

– Anchor Post #1: Gospel-Centered

The gospel is the good news of God’s grace invading the darkness of this world. It is the grand narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation ordained by God and orchestrated through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Christ’s crucifixion is the heart of the gospel. His resurrection is the power of the gospel. His ascension is the glory of the gospel.

But what does it mean to be gospel-centered? When people talk about it, they’re often saying it in one of two ways. First, people use it as a lens to view all of our spiritual growth as dependent on the gospel. At the end of the day, all spiritual growth happens in the midst of our ongoing struggle with sin and our ongoing need for grace through Christ to invade the darkness of our hearts. Dane Ortland says,

This is why Paul constantly reminds people—reminds Christian people—of the Gospel (Romans 1:16–17; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 15:3–4; Galatians 1:6). We move forward in discipleship not mainly through pep talks and stern warnings. We move forward when we hear afresh the strangeness of grace, relaxing our hearts and loosening our clenched hold on a litany of lesser things—financial security, the perfect spouse, career advancement, sexual pleasure, human approval, and so on.

Second, people use it to refer to how the gospel shapes our outlook on everything in life and ministry. This would include how we understand politics, social action, ethics in the workplace and elsewhere in the public sphere, being on mission in a small town, and countless other related examples. In this sense, the gospel is actively forming how we look at and understand everything in our lives and the world around us.

Being on mission to reach non-Christians is obviously important because hell is hot and forever is a long time. But more importantly, we must be on mission in a gospel-centered way if we want mission to be healthy and sustainable. Growing in a gospel-centered way gives our mission authenticity and frees us from the burden of “do better and try harder.” Mission in light of the gospel is intrinsically found in God’s nature; knowing this helps us see mission as something to be naturally integrated into our lives as followers of Christ, as opposed to just another thing to add to our already busy schedule.

– Anchor Post #2: The Local Church

If we aren’t committed to a local church, that’s a big problem. It’s impossible to reconcile mission apart from the local church because the New Testament constantly emphasizes mission in the context of the local church, not makeshift spiritual gatherings. If we want to be aligned with the New Testament, we can’t be on mission to our friends, neighbors, and co-workers without also aiming to prioritize the flourishing of our local church. And even though some local churches are more challenging than others to be invested in, the Holy Spirit can empower us to be patient and loving to any group of people, just as he is with us! In the end, the gospel needs to form how we think and feel about the local church.

Furthermore, I embrace a missionary understanding of the local church. This doesn’t mean that mission is the only thing that a church does, but it does mean that mission must be prioritized. That’s because mission is an essential element of a local church’s identity as an outworking of the gospel.

– Anchor Post #3: Equipping People

Churches that are committed to seeing their people as missionaries should also be committed to equipping their people for being on mission. Equipping means discipling and training people to think and act like missionaries and sending them on mission in their spheres of influence (i.e., where they live, where they work, where they play, what their kids are involved in, etc). In Ephesians 4:11–12, the Apostle Paul says,

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Pastor J. D. Greear has said that, in light of Ephesians 4:11–12, the day he became a pastor was the day he left the ministry because God gave pastors to the church to equip people for the work of ministry.

Greear is obviously overstating his point for effect, but I generally agree with what’s he’s saying.

The discipling and training process for sending people on mission is crucial for a church that wants to be on mission. It’s also worth noting that most churches who are committed to this process aren’t overly committed to getting non-Christians to attend the church’s programs and facilities. Granted, getting non-Christians to attend a church’s programs and facilities can be good and helpful, especially in small towns that are filled with non-Christians who have a more traditional mindset about how churches function. However, if this strategy isn’t accompanied by a primary strategy of discipling, training, and sending, the church will probably and eventually be filled with people who expect pastors and programs to do the work of mission for them.

– Anchor Post #4: Mission in Community

Ministry is meant to happen in the context of relationships because all of us, whether we realize it or not, have a deep need and desire to know and be known by others. We have been made in the image of God, who has eternally existed in community as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are designed to be in relationship and community with others. This is why we should do mission in the context of relationships and biblical community as much as possible.

Making disciples who are on mission together is (or should be!) one of the priorities of the local church. That’s why you should go through Small Town Mission with someone whom you want to be on mission with. This might include Christian neighbors, co-workers, members of your small group, or anyone you meet regularly with for discipleship. If you’re married you might consider going through it with your spouse, because married couples who follow Jesus are on a permanent mission trip together. Even if you’ve been married for thirty years or more, don’t underestimate what the Holy Spirit can do when it comes to aligning both your hearts and minds for the sake of mission.

After all, mission isn’t just something that must be prioritized globally and in big cities; it must also be prioritized locally and in small towns.

Aaron Morrow (M.A. Moody Bible Institute) is one of the pastors of River City Church in Dubuque, Iowa, which was planted in 2016. He and his wife Becky have three daughters named Leah, Maggie, and Gracie.

Grayson Pope 6/20/17 Grayson Pope 6/20/17

Use Your Affluence for Influence

“If you engage in a geographically centered mission in an affluent area, how will you care for the poor and welcome them into your community?” — @BradAWatson

I saw that tweet right before bed and it kept me up most of the night. It's something I’ve wrestled with because I live and serve in an affluent community. How do you care for the poor and welcome them into your community if you live in a wealthy area?

The Bible tells us that God’s people are blessed so that they can be a blessing to others. That means our affluence should be used for influence.

The Biblical Mandate

God’s plan since the beginning has been to bless the world through his people. In the garden, Adam and Eve were told to be fruitful and multiply and to cultivate the world, making it a more perfect place (Gen. 1:28). God promised Abraham he would bless him and make him into a great nation, but that blessing was intended to flow into all the nations of the earth (Gen. 12:2-3). Abraham’s fruitfulness would be a blessing to his family, but it was primarily intended to become a blessing to all the families of the world.

This broader theme of blessing the world through one people carries over into God’s plan for Israel. At the same time, God’s heart for the poor is revealed throughout the Old Testament in passages such as Psalm 72:13, “He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.” More than the just the poor, we see God’s soft spot widened to include widows, orphans, refugees, and others, such as in Deuteronomy 10:18, “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.”

The fullest display of God’s heart for the poor was incarnated in Jesus, who was born into a poor family. His statements about caring the poor were provocative and shocking, like when he said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God… But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Lk. 6:20, 24). Jesus goes further to say that putting our money in earthly possessions is foolish when all of it will come to an end. Instead, Jesus says,

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. – Luke 12:33

Perhaps Jesus’ most striking words about caring for the poor are found in Matthew 25:31-46, where he says that neglecting to care for the poor is the same as neglecting to care for him. Those who neglect the poor will then hear these words from Jesus,

Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. – Matthew 25:41-43

Clearly, Jesus expects his followers to use their blessings to bless others. For many of us, Jesus’ teaching should directly affect how we think about and use our affluence.

Own your affluence

Many of us don't think of ourselves as affluent. However, none of the worldwide statistics support this thinking.

At the same time, not everyone reading this is making ends meet, and I get that. I really do. I coordinate pastoral care and benevolence for my church, so I know people are struggling. Just because I live in an affluent area doesn't mean everyone around me is well off.

But for those of us who have a roof over our head, food in the fridge, and air conditioning keeping us comfortable, we need to own our affluence. Once we’ve done that, it’s time to start putting feet to our faith. Here are some ways to do that.

Spend time with the poor

If we want to care for the poor and invite them into our lives and communities, we have to spend time them. The biggest hurdle to caring for the poor in affluent areas is insulation—intentionally or unintentionally closing ourselves off. We don’t have to continue living this way this way though.

Even in a wealthy town like mine, there is almost always an organization, church, or non-profit that is serving the poor and working poor. Seek them out. Give them time and resources. Join their cause. As you read earlier, in Matthew 25 Jesus equated spending time with the poor to spending time with him.

We can't minister to people we don't understand. We can’t welcome people we don’t know. We must be serving the poor where they are.

Open your home

Here's something that would make a splash in your affluent neighborhood: invite a poor person or family to move into your home. Why don't more of us consider this?

Jesus' teaching is laden with instructions to care for the poor, minister to the down and out, and to be hospitable to the stranger. Particularly in the suburbs, many people have homes with extra bedrooms, bonus rooms, and basements, so why not use those homes for ministry?

The early church got a lot of things wrong, but this they got right. “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:44-47 ESV).

Using houses as ministry bases has been a part of the church since the very beginning. Just because we live in an individualistic age doesn't mean we should be exempt from that history. Thankfully, we're living in a time where this ministry form is having a bit of a renaissance.

Move to the "poor part of town"

Here's another counter-cultural idea that would raise eyebrows in your affluent area: sell your house and move closer to the "poor part of town."

Every town and city has at least one area like this. In our affluence we actively avoid living close to these area citing crime, poor schools, and sagging real estate prices. These sound reasonable enough until you ask yourself if those would sound like good reasons to Jesus.

What kind of witness to the name of Jesus would it be if more believers sold their homes, moved closer to poverty, and used their affluence to enrich the lives of those around them?

A pretty compelling one if you ask me. And it sounds dangerously close to the early Christianity we all claim to long for.

Cultivate church gatherings that welcome the poor

Ask yourself: If I were to bring a poor person to church with me on Sunday, what would their experience be like? Would they stand out? Would they be welcomed? Would anyone talk to them? Would the service make sense to them?

These might be tough questions, depending on your answers, but we should be asking them. If we're surrounded by affluence, over time we'll only be able to relate to affluence, and everything we do will assume people come from the same background.

This mindset makes social diversity much more difficult and weakens our communities. Community thrives in diversity, not homogeneity. We should always be seeking to cultivate a community that welcomes people no matter where they fall on the income spectrum, particularly within the body of Christ.

James 2 harshly condemns partiality towards the rich over the poor when the church is gathered. If the poor aren’t welcome in the gathering of the body then there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the kingdom of God: “Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5 ESV).

The Church should be marked by a counter-cultural blending of people; a people that no longer think in societal hierarchies or act according to cultural norms. The day of Pentecost brought together people from countries and people groups that actively hated each other, yet the world was turned upside down by the way they loved one another.

Could our churches facilitate this same counter-culture today?

Throw a party

In Luke 14:13, Jesus says we’ll be blessed when we invite people to our parties who can’t afford to pay us back. Why not throw a party for the poor in your area? Feed them a meal, give them space to rest and to laugh. Gather your friends or some churches and throw a banquet for the poor in your area where everything is free. Provide food, dental clinics, healthcare, and free clothing stores. Blessing people that way doesn’t make any sense according to the world, but it makes a lot of sense according to Jesus’ teaching.

Ecclesia Houston does something called a "simple feast" where they gather to share a pot-luck style meal with their homeless brothers and sisters. No money required, you just show up. Oh, and they do it every week.

Churches in wealthy areas often have facilities that are well-equipped to do this sort of thing. Why not use them to serve the poor and integrate them into the community?

The hardest part would be getting the word out to those who would benefit from it, but surely that's something that could be addressed through networking with other organizations and churches in your area.

Use your affluence for influence

When God blessed Israel, He had other nations in mind that He wanted to bless through them. Yes, it was about Israel enjoying the blessings too, but God was primarily interested in spreading His glory throughout the nations by blessing the world through Israel. The same is true of the Church today.

Owning our affluence should lead us to ask why we have resources. Why, out of all the places in the world, were you born in this country, and live in your town or city? It might just be that your affluence isn’t meant for you alone. Instead of seeing that affluence as something we should hold on to, it’s time to start seeing it as something we should give away.

Use your affluence for influence. But use it for the right kind of influence – the kind that brings flourishing and healing to our towns and city. The kind of influence that lifts up those around you and makes everyone better.

Grayson Pope is a husband and father of three. He serves as Pastor of Community at his church in Charlotte, NC and is currently pursuing a MACS at The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Grayson's Passion is to equip believers for everyday discipleship to Jesus.

Justin Huffman 6/18/17 Justin Huffman 6/18/17

Blessed Are the Persecuted?

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. – Matthew 5:10-11

When I was recently speaking on the subject of Christian persecution, I told my wife how intimidated I was to make this topic piercingly relevant in our comfortable modern culture, with so much religious freedom. Her reply helped open my own eyes on the subject. She suggested we perhaps can see this issue best through its opposite: if being persecuted for righteousness’s sake means being insulted or rejected because we are speaking the gospel for Christ’s sake, then its opposite is being accepted, popular, or enjoyed because we are not speaking and living publicly for Christ.

When we consider the issue through this lens, we starkly see how applicable it is, how far short we often fall as Christians of enjoying the blessedness of unpopularity for Christ’s sake. And now the Beatitude that perhaps seemed least applicable to begin with becomes the most searching and convicting!

Am I truly hungering after righteousness? Then it will be evidenced in rejection for righteousness’s sake! Am I poor in spirit? Then I will not hesitate to be shamed by the world in order to speak well of my Savior.

What does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness?

What Jesus means by “persecution” is explained in his own words in the surrounding context. In verse 11, we see that persecution includes: being reviled (insulted, reprimanded, despised, rejected) and having people say negative things about you for Christ’s sake.

We must be careful to notice that Christian persecution always centers on Christ, not us. It is for Christ’s sake—not just our own unpopularity, our difficulty getting along with people, our offending people (even with the truth) by unkind and inconsiderate words or manner. (Remember 1 Peter 2:20: “What credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God”).

Yet we don’t see anything in Jesus’s description of persecution about being burned at the stake, chased out of your home, or thrown in prison—even though many of his disciples would eventually face these violent responses to their Christian testimony! Rather, the words Jesus chooses in order to describe persecution highlight the personal rejection and social isolation. Interestingly, Peter writes to those who are suffering physical consequences for their Christian faith, and his emphasis almost exactly mirrors that of Jesus: “if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed” (1 Pt. 3:14), and “If you are insulted [same word as “reviled”] for the name of Christ, you are blessed” (4:14).

Do we think there’s something unique about our culture or our generation, that the greatest deterrent to living and speaking publicly for the glory of Christ is what other people will think and say? Certainly not! Think about it: the difficulty of losing your house or being put in prison would be far less if your entire community and culture embraced what you were standing for and welcomed you afterward with open arms. Likewise, not losing your house or being put in prison does not shelter you from the serious and daunting loneliness, shame, and rejection that any culture can heap on those whom they despise and deride.

Have we been persecuted for righteousness?

In light of Jesus’s description of Christian persecution—which does not necessarily mean doing prison time, but will always mean sacrificing my personal popularity in order to speak well of Jesus in front of others—have we experienced the blessedness Jesus’s promises here?

Have I been passed over for promotion, have I had to stick out at a social event, have I been ostracized by my classmates, have I received odd looks or peer pressure for what I won’t let my children do for Christ’s sake? (Let’s not kid ourselves: peer pressure is not just a problem for kids! It is just as much a danger for adults.)

The point of Jesus’s beatitude is not just to make us feel guilty but to help us realize we are either trusting in the approval and acceptance of others or we are trusting in Christ’s promise: “You are blessed if you are insulted for me!”

This means any time I avoid speaking about Jesus, or go along with the crowd in order to fit in or not be rejected, I am disbelieving Christ’s assurance that it is a greater blessing and happiness to be reviled for Christ’s sake than it is to fit in for my own sake.

And it also means that we cannot excuse ourselves from this beatitude by just saying, as we often do, “Thank God we don’t live in a country that persecutes Christians.” Every country, in every generation has persecuted Christians when those Christians are boldly speaking well of Christ and living out his Word! Paul put it in no uncertain terms, didn’t he? “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). If we are not in some sense despised by, reviled by our unbelieving culture and co-workers and community then it necessarily means we have in some way been hiding the light of Christ. Those who bravely, although joyfully and winningly, speak well of Jesus in public will always suffer for it in an unbelieving world.

Some Bible-students have suggested this is the one beatitude not describing or based on personal character and actions. Yet Jesus insists it has everything to do with who we are and how we are living: “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (Jn. 15:19; see also 17:6-14). The goal of course is not ever to be “persecution” in and of itself, but speaking and living publicly for Christ… which Jesus says will always lead to severe social rejection on some level.

Are we being persecuted? More specifically, can you think of an instance in the last week in which you were insulted or rejected because you were publicly speaking and living for Christ? In the last month? The last year?

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What is the promise to those who, in boldly proclaiming the fame of Jesus Christ, suffer personally for it? “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

They appear to lose all; but not so, for they gain assurance that all is theirs. Everything on earth may be taken from them, but they have the astounding and everlasting promise that heaven is theirs.

The world opposes the name of Jesus Christ, either by discounting him or by ignoring him; it always has, and Jesus says it always will. The world is speaking evil of Christ; if Christians do not speak well of him, who will? Is Christ well-spoken of by you?

It is interesting and revealing, is it not, that we often thank God for the blessing of not being persecuted? Meanwhile, Jesus says the opposite! Blessed are those who are persecuted for his name’s sake. Your situation is a happy one when persecuted for Christ’s name because your life is counting for the only thing in all the universe that really matters and lasts.

Justin Huffman has pastored in the States for over 15 years, authored the "Daily Devotion" app (iTunes/Android) which now has over half a million downloads, and recently published a book with Day One: Grow: the Command to Ever-Expanding Joy. He has also written articles for For the Church, Servants of Grace, and Fathom Magazine. He blogs at justinhuffman.org.

R. York Moore 6/15/17 R. York Moore 6/15/17

Dreams of Another World

I don’t usually wake up laughing, but that morning I did. Head pressed deeply into the dense pillow, I awoke to my own laughter. The room was cold, which had caused me to sleep more deeply than usual. My legs were numb, but I was warm all over, except for my nose. A single beam of dusty light revealed an unfamiliar room of placard signs, mass-produced art and sterile chairs. Hotel room curtains never fully close, do they? A strip between the two panels allowed that beam of light to poke me in my sleepy head. I had slept so deeply that my first thought in that refrigerated state was, Who am I, and how did I get here? I wanted to disappear under the thick comforter, to roll my head between the three pillows and just dream. But I had laughed myself awake. I have no idea what I dreamt of that caused such morning hilarity, but as I flopped over, sitting next to me—also laughing—was my new bride. We had been married just three days.

“What were you dreaming of?” she asked, snickering. “I watched you toss and giggle for ten minutes before you woke up.”

“I wish I could remember,” I said with a laugh. Though the details of the dream were lost, I knew I had tasted another world. The dream had trailed off as light hit my head, and it was gone. Nothing left now but bad breath, a lined face and a deep sense of rest and peace. Though the dream had vanished, I lay there in the bed on my honeymoon with contentment and joy.

I wish I could have held that moment forever. It was a moment between two dreams—one an unconscious dream of peace and joy, and the other a waking dream of marriage with my new wife, Jodi, where everything was new and exciting.

What is it about a dream that beckons us, ever entangling us in its web of hope and longing? The elusive dream of our hearts fades out of reach each morning. With each sunrise, with each knock on the door, we awake with a realization that real life awaits us. But we long to go back, to pull the covers over our faces, to tuck our heads between the pillows and just dream.

Though the elusive dream of our hearts fades, we search for it because we’ve tasted it in small doses over and over again. In the breathtaking beauty of a sunset, the oblivious, innocent laughter of a child, through forgiveness and kindness, in expressions of love and selflessness, we’ve tasted a world we were meant for and want more of. Our soul remembers the aftertaste of a world we were destined for, because we have tasted it in small measure our whole lives. The taste is unmistakable. We know this taste of the world more viscerally than anything else, because it is at the core of what it means to be human. The dream is a foretaste of another world, a better world, a world where things are the way they’re supposed to be.

We are dreamers, every one of us. John Lennon’s song “Imagine” described a dream where the world would one day live as one. The dream Lennon sang of—though many would disagree with him—is a reflection of this other world, a world where greed, possessions, hunger, violence, nationalistic and religious beliefs no longer drown out love, companionship and peace. Lennon’s dream was very close to the dream of God, though Lennon himself would likely dismiss this. The amazing thing about the dreams of some of the people furthest from God is that their desire for a better world mirrors the ultimate dream of God to make all things new. We are dreamers because God is a dreamer.

Though we are often not able to articulate it fully, what we dream of is the same dream that God has dreamt since time began. The dream of God is at the heart of our dreams. We can know a great deal about our dreaming God by looking at our own dreams and the dreams of humanity throughout the world.

Dreams are powerful, but because the world is not the way it’s supposed to be, our dreams are often twisted—mere shadows of what they once were. Dreams can become misguided—expressions of exploitative power, excessive material acquisition, sensual indulgence. There’s no limit to how badly dreams can run amuck. Dreams can become nightmares, ruling and eventually ruining our lives. The longing to escape the struggles and disappointments of this world often tempt us to escape “reality” artificially. Drugs, alcohol, shopping, sex, pornography—anything to escape and “just be.” To be alone with ourselves, at peace with our mind, free from worry and pain—we just want to dream.

The longing to be transported from where we are to where we were meant to be is also powerful. Most people will risk everything they have and all that they are to reach for a dream. Some people do this in ways that are healthy and life giving, but most people settle for the easy substitute. We settle for a cheap version of the dream in a one-night stand, in dancing erotic pixels in dark rooms. We want a quick fix, and we find it at the baked-goods section at the grocery store, the bottom of a bottle or the pulsating floor of a dance club. We often pursue a dream in selfish and destructive ways, ways that are incompatible with God’s dream.

We long to go to that other world that lingers in our hearts. We are called to it in small ways each day. For me, it is the small “magical moments” of life that call me back, the little things that pull at my heart: a wispy meadow in late August, the sound of cicadas buzzing in the trees, the smell of dense, warm air before a storm. All of a sudden, my mind wanders away from my son’s orthodontics bill, the fight I’m having with my wife, Jodi, or the diaper that needs to be changed. Another world pokes in as I smell bacon in the morning or catch a glimpse of a hummingbird hovering over the lilies outside my office window. We live in a world where “real” is limited to what we can see, hear, smell, touch and taste. But these are hints of a world more real than what all our senses can tell us. Our dreams point us to another world.

The world we live in is caught between two worlds—a dream and a nightmare. But the good news is that the dream of God will come to pass and is coming to pass all around us. It will one day replace the nightmare of this world. In many ways, God’s dream is already breaking in. Every time a well is dug for a community, food is provided for the hungry, nets protect those at risk of mosquito-borne malaria or those who traffic in the flesh of prostitutes are brought to justice, the nightmare ends and the dream begins.

When we join God in bringing his dream to the world around us, we are fulfilling his plan and purpose for our lives. Joining in God’s dream is the most significant thing we could ever do. It is what we were created for. God’s plan for us begins and flourishes as we allow our dreams to merge into the great dream of God.

R. York Moore is a passionate and visionary leader. York deeply values spiritual formation, relational intelligence, innovation, and collaboration. An effective communicator and orator, York casts vision and leads change through his communication skills on-line, in publications, and with live audiences. York has traveled the world, working with organizational leaders and academic institutions in their context to mobilize constituents to more effectively engage their mission. He has led change organizationally in large not-for-profit organizations and in the local church. York is a published author and blogger in magazines like Outreach, Preaching Today, and EMQ . He also is a Cabinet member for Luis Palau’s ‘Next Generation Alliance‘ and is a Compassion International speaker. York holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of Michigan and an MA in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. R. York Moore lives in Canton, MI with his wife and three kids.

Bryan Green 6/13/17 Bryan Green 6/13/17

Understanding the Father Heart of God

I woke up suddenly at 2:30am in my parents room to the sound of my dad struggling to get out of bed while asking me, “Where’s mom? I need to go to the living room. I just need to get to the living room.” My dad had been battling cancer for four years now and was coming to the end of his life. My mom, the nurse, had called me the week before to tell me to fly home because dad only had about a week left to live. I helped him up, wondering how he even had enough strength to push himself into a seated position. He was so weak this final week of his life. We walked with my arm supporting most of my dad’s weight from his bedroom to the living room. He sat on the armchair, and I sat on the couch. My dad fell into a deep sleep which he wouldn’t wake up from. He passed into the arms of Jesus the next day around 2 or 3pm. I sat up most of the night wondering what I would do without him. The questions you ask yourself and God in the moments of pain are hard but precious. As I was watching my dad pass away, I asked God a series of questions that would lead me on a path of discovery into the depths of God’s heart as a Father. Theology helps you answer the question, “Who is God?” but in my painful situation I asked the question, “Where are you God?” More than ever, I needed the comfort of a father. I needed to know that God was near and that he cared about my pain. We all ask this question at some point in our lives. It’s the heart of God the Father to help us answer this burning question.

God’s Heart

When the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt they cried out in pain asking God, “Where are you?” Moses uses four important verbs to describe God’s response to their pain. “God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel- and God knew” (Ex. 2:24-25).

God was not ignorant of the cries from his people, and he is not ignorant of our cries. God’s response to pain is all throughout the Bible, and the greatest expression we have of God’s heart for us is in the sending of his Son, Jesus.

In Jesus, Divine Love became human. He decided to experience our pain, sickness, our sin, and ultimately our death. He left perfection, heaven, to come into our broken world. It’s sort of crazy when you think about it. Why would you leave perfection to experience imperfection? The answer is love, but it’s still almost incomprehensible especially to us living in brokenness. But God the Father still sent Jesus and God’s expressive love for His Son directly relates to His love for us.

“This is my beloved Son”

There are two places in Scripture where we find God’s love for Jesus explicitly stated. One is at his baptism (Matt. 3:17), and the second is at his transfiguration (Matt. 17:5). God the Father says the same thing about Jesus with one addendum at the transfiguration. He says, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased,” and at the transfiguration He adds, “Listen to him.” God the Father speaks acceptance (This is my…), love (This is my belevoded…), identity (This is my beloved son...), and approval (listen to him) over Jesus. These four characteristics of God’s love for Jesus show us God’s heart for us.

Through Jesus, God’s love for us is revealed and God’s immanent presence is manifested. Behind my question of “Where are you God?” was a deep longing to be heard and an even deeper longing to be loved. As disciples of Jesus, we must remember that the main purpose of Jesus’s coming was to bring us into a reconciled relationship with God the Father.

We call him, “Abba” through the Holy Spirit because we are all in need of acceptance, love, identity, and approval from him. Abba is a deeply relational word, and it represents what we need most: a Father who will never leave us, who we can always trust, and who we can always come to in our pain for help. We need our dads to say these things to us, but they often fail and they won’t always be around (in some cases they never are).

In my life, I lost my dad and had to explore the world without him. My exploration was often not pretty. What I found was a God willing to speak into my life that which I had lost and that which I had never had in my relationship with my dad. I found a Father. Every disciple of Jesus will wrestle with the question, “Where are you God?” and our response reveals what we believe about him and the depths of relationship to which we are willing to go with him.

Our Response

We can have two responses to the question, “Where is God?” The first response reveals that we do not know God as Father. It is a response that says, “God has abandoned me so I must seek love elsewhere.” Some of us are living this response right now. I know I have lived it. This response believes God can’t be a good Father and won’t ever really be around. I minister to teenagers who never had a dad present in their lives and are ignorant of the love which God has for them as a Father. The first response isn’t meant to be our only response. When God’s love as Father is revealed to us, our response is much different.

The answer to the question, “Where is God?” was “Right beside you.” Just like with the Israelites, God heard my groaning, remembered his covenant through Jesus, saw my pain, and knew me. As a disciple of Jesus, I wanted to follow him to explore a relationship with my Abba. As I began sharing my story, I began hearing story after story of people who had found the love of God the Father. Our deepest wounds are addressed by a Father who's presence as “Abba” changes our very identity.

His presence as a Father through the Holy Spirit reminds us that even when we feel alone, cast off, in pain, and rejected we are actually not alone because God stands with us. Our response now says, “God is present in my pain through the work of Jesus Christ, and he is right beside me caring for me as a good Father should.” And He wants us to share these stories of pain and our wounded hearts so that others can experience the love of God.

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” — 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Each time we share our story about the love of God the Father, we declare our ambassadorship about belonging to the family of God. We are showing the world that God loves us in our deepest pain and has not abandoned us. He is present in Christ Jesus and shows us that having a Father means we are never alone, we have an familial identity, we are loved, and we have a purpose. So share your story, even if it hurts. God is with you.

Bryan Green is an aspiring church planter, barista, seminary student, and servant at Soma Tacoma. He's graduating at the end of the summer with a M.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies at Western Seminary.

Courtney Yantes 6/11/17 Courtney Yantes 6/11/17

The Gospel Domino Effect

I love exploring history and the cause and effect relationship of certain actions. If you want to know why something happened, you have to consider what preceded it. Neither you, nor I, or our society live in a vacuum, so there are these constant push/pull, give/take, cause/effect scenarios playing out across our lives, culture, and history through time. If you want to understand why I behave and think and act a certain way, look to my parents, my family, and my upbringing, among a host of other influences which have shaped me along the way. I loved horses as a child because my grandfather had a barnyard full of Shetland ponies.

I’m terrified of ever snorkeling again because, to put it simply, my one and only experience just did not end well. I’m not a fan of banana-flavored foods or drinks because I once had to take an antibiotic as a child that tasted similar to bananas. It tasted so horrible I threw it up all over my dad.

I go to the gym now because I knew I needed to get my body in shape, and I vowed I was never going to go through the agony of having a herniated disc again.

I currently have short hair, and I have told myself for a long time now I would never want to grow it out again because I associate long hair with who I used to be in high school—and I did not like who I used to be. The list is a never-ending cause and effect relationships, and that’s just in my own life. The list is infinitely longer if we look at history at large.

The same is true when we consider the story lines playing out on the pages of the Bible. Why did Mary and Joseph have to go to Bethlehem? Because Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census to be taken and each person had to return to his hometown.

Why did Eve eat the apple in the garden? Because Satan deceived her. Why did Moses have to flee Egypt? Because he killed an Egyptian man and Moses feared for his life. I realize these are overly simplified and generalized statements of what are complex cause and effect relationships, but you get the idea. It is the classic question of “why?” with the ever-informative answer “because.”

But do you want to know one of the ultimate cause and effect relationships that underlines the entirety of Scripture?

It is bound up in the simple sequence of just a few short phrases and a series of pronouns: That I may → that you may → that we may → that they may.

Jesus sets this grand chain reaction of dominoes into motion when he says, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again” (Jn. 10:17).

Why does he lay down his life? So that he may take it up again. He cannot be resurrected if he does not first die. He is the “I” in the sequence. That I may. He is the first domino to fall, which leads to the second domino.

Jesus lays down his life to take it up again. Why?

So that you may.

So that you may what?

The answer lies in John 20:31, “But [this book was] written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The context of this verse applies directly to the book of John, a book which recorded the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Cause? Jesus laid down his life? Effect? You get to choose to believe and have life in his name. If you flip toward the back of your Bible to 1 John 5:13, you’ll see a similar echo, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” Jesus died and was resurrected, and these stories are recorded of him doing so you could believe in him and spend eternity in heaven.

That I may, so that you may.

Two dominoes fall. But they do not stop just yet. The story never ends with just you.

It continues with “we.”

That we may.

Paul shares in 2 Corinthians 10 a defense of his ministry. He speaks of how we can and cannot boast in who we are, how we can and cannot compare ourselves, and what the limits to our boasting are. He ultimately wraps up in verse 18 by saying, “For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” It is a couple of verses just prior in vv. 15-16, however, that we must note, “But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you…”

That we may preach the gospel.

We want our area of influence to increase and be greatly enlarged so that we may tell others about this Jesus who laid down his life for us. Another domino falls.

The whole of Scripture paints this singular cause and effect sequence: Jesus laid down his life so that he may take it up again so that you may have eternal life and so that we may preach the gospel to all nations.

But is that the last of the dominoes to fall?

Hardly.

That they may.

Jesus says in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

“That I may” crashes into “that you may” which knocks over “that we may” which collides with “that they may.”

The end goal is always others. Jesus died and was resurrected not simply so you could get yourself a get-out-of-hell-free card. Yes, he died for you personally and individually. But he did not die only for you. God told Abram in Genesis 12:2-3,

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

The blessing might have begun with Abram, but it most certainly did not end with him.

The greatest cause and effect in my life and your life begins with Jesus and ends with others, and we get sandwiched in between.

Jesus is the single most magnificent cause in the history of mankind.

His effect?

That storyline has been unfolding for thousands of years and is still unfolding.

May we be a part of that effect and the preaching of gospel in lands beyond us.

So that they may share in the gift of eternal salvation.

The beauty of the story is that the first and the last dominoes—I and they—come full circle and crash into one another in John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

That I may.

So that you may.

So that we may.

So that they may.

Courtney Yantes spends her days as an event planner, coordinating events and conferences designed to inspire change and promote access for people with disabilities. She graduated from William Woods University with a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in business administration. She enjoys blogging, traveling, and generally organizing anything she can get her hands on. She is a lover of all things Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and relishes a life free of social media accounts.

Wendy Alsup 6/8/17 Wendy Alsup 6/8/17

Is the Bible Good for Women?

Is the Bible good for women? Growing up in the conservative South, I never considered that question. I didn’t understand anything of women’s rights except the caricatures I saw on the news during attempts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. But I was one of three daughters, no sons, born to a Christian dad who valued his girls well. Though I experienced my fair share of struggles growing up, female oppression in a patriarchal society did not seem to be one of them. As I got older and watched the news with a more critical eye, a different view of women came into my line of sight. There were countries where women couldn’t vote? There were cultures that would put victims of rape to death in honor killings? Then I moved to Seattle, where women’s rights and feminist issues are often center stage in local news and conversation. I couldn’t hide from these issues anymore. Female mutilation, legal oppression, and culturally accepted rape were much bigger issues affecting many more women worldwide than I had ever under- stood. And domestic abuse, the blaming of sexual abuse survivors, and discrimination in the workforce occurred closer to home. My experience of being valued as a female by the men in my life was not the norm worldwide, but I also came to realize it wasn’t the norm in the conservative South either. I was bombarded by women’s issues. As a believer in Jesus since childhood and one who loved and valued the Bible, I was barraged with criticism of the Scripture around women’s issues as well. Does the Bible address oppression of women in helpful ways? Or does it only perpetuate such oppression among its followers? In a world that is quite often very bad for women, does the Bible help or does it make it worse?

HARMFUL WORLDWIDE PRACTICES

National Public Radio recently highlighted a disturbing practice in western Nepal in which young women are banished to outdoor sheds when they are on their periods.1 The families interviewed believe that the girls could cause illnesses among the family’s elderly if they touch them while menstruating. The humiliation and stigma those girls endure is worth public outcry.

Hinduism is the primary religion (81 percent) in Nepal.2 Al- though Judaism and Christianity have made small inroads into the country, this practice of barring young menstruating women from their homes does not seem to have a direct relationship to Old Testament Law. Yet I can’t help but think of similar instructions in the Law (see Leviticus 15:19–33) when I hear of the Nepali practice. I know from Scripture that despite the similarities, the Nepali practice is a perversion of God’s intent in the Law. The Nepali tradition attributes to girls on their periods something Old Testament Law never does, it does so without the Law’s corresponding instruction to men, and it perpetuates a practice that Jesus said two thousand years ago was brought to completion through Him. (We will work this out in greater detail in chapters 6 and 7.)

But the comparison puts a question to us, one that many women ask themselves: Is the Bible good for women? How can a book that includes instructions on where a woman can sleep or sit when menstruating be trusted by women today when similar modern practices like that of the Nepalese are clearly harmful for women?

We have not always been suspicious about the Bible’s take on women’s issues. For long periods in history, people viewed the Bible and Christianity as powers that lifted the downtrodden and demoralized to new places of respect. During the twentieth century, the first wave of feminism gave voice to women whom society had long marginalized. In 1920, women finally won the right to vote in the United States, due in large part to the efforts of Christians. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union led this movement, seeking to apply biblical principles of social justice to larger society.3 Based in part on their understanding of Jesus and the Bible, men and women of faith fought together for women to have the right to vote. This first wave of feminism resulted in women’s right to vote and inherit land, along with subsequent benefits to both women and children as women gained a voice in legislation.

But as the century wore on, there came a fork in the road in which orthodox Christianity seemed to go in one direction concerning the rights of women, and second-wave feminism (which focused on birth control, abortion rights, and equal pay) in another. In the last few years, many pro-women authors (for lack of a better name), even Christian ones, have painted a picture of women in the Bible that is troubling, even referring to certain pas- sages concerning women in the Bible as “texts of terror.”4 According to many books and popular blogs, the view in our current culture is that an orthodox understanding of the Bible is threatening and even downright harmful to women. The similarities be- tween Old Testament Law having to do with women on their periods and the Nepali practice that results in shaming menstruating girls seem to only reinforce such a distrust of Scripture.

Other books have dissected the history of evangelical Christianity and the secular women’s movement.5 Rather than looking at how we arrived at the twenty-first-century general mistrust of the Bible regarding women, I would like instead to simply challenge it by encouraging us to discover and use a Jesus-centered under- standing of Scripture when reading the Bible. In turn, this gives us a Jesus-centered understanding of how the Bible speaks about women and to women in its pages. I believe this process will give us all a life-giving perspective of our gendered selves in God’s kingdom. It will help us see the profound difference in the shame that fathers project onto menstruating Nepali daughters and the dignity God places on His.

Editor’s Note: To find the answer to these questions and more pick up a copy Is the Bible Good for Women by Wendy Alsup where she dedicates a chapter to answer a single difficult question in-depth.

Wendy Alsup is the author of Practical Theology for Women, The Gospel-Centered Woman, and By His Wounds You Are Healed. She began her public ministry as deacon of women’s theology and teaching at her church in Seattle, but she now lives on an old family farm in South Carolina, where she teaches math at a local community college and is a mother to her two boys. She also writes at gospelcenteredwoman.com. She is a member of a local church in the Lowcountry Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Excerpted from Is the Bible Good for Women by Wendy Alsup Copyright © 2016 by Wendy Alsup. Excerpted by permission of Multnomah, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Michael Guyer 6/6/17 Michael Guyer 6/6/17

Listen Up: A Much Needed Skill

“Christianity demands that we have enough compassion to learn the questions of our generation.” – Francis Schaeffer

Do you hear what Schaeffer is saying? Our witness and discipleship requires that we understand the questions our generation is asking. To understand these questions, we must listen. However, Schaeffer puts his finger on our problem, which is much the same as it was in his day:

“The trouble with too many of us is that we want to be able to answer these questions instantly, as though we could take a funnel, put it in one ear and pour in the facts, and then go out and regurgitate them and win all the discussions.” (2 Contents, 2 Realities, 414)

Schaeffer describes far too many of my witnessing opportunities and discipleship relationships. One moment still resonates in my mind. After sharing the gospel with a man during an outreach event, he looked at me and said, “Thanks for sharing your spiel, but you don’t even know me!”

I know I’m often afraid that if I slow down to ask questions and listen, I may encounter a difficult conversation. Schaeffer is right: “Answering questions is hard work.” He continues, “Can you answer all the questions? No, but you must try. Begin to listen with compassion. Ask what this man’s questions really are and try to answer. And if you don’t know the answer, try to go someplace or read and study to find the answer.” (414)

Are you listening?

We must listen with compassion, listen for questions, and seek to give an honest answer.

Easy enough. But how do we listen well? How do we listen so that we identify the questions people are really asking? And how do we then respond to these questions with gospel-shaped answers?

Here are three categories to think through to help us learn and answer the questions of our generation:

Tell me your story!

Jeff Vanderstelt brings this out clearly in his recent book Gospel Fluency. Everyone has a story and everyone’s stories reveal important truths and questions. It is in the sharing of stories that we have the opportunity to listen well.

“My regular counsel to Christians these days is to spend more time listening than talking if they want to be able to share the gospel of Jesus in a way that meaningfully speaks to the hearts of others.” (Gospel Fluency, 175)

– Listening well to people’s stories means listening with the gospel story in mind.

Ask yourself: In what ways are they looking for answers that the gospel provides? How does the gospel meet them where they are in their life? Who is the hero of their story? How is Jesus better than what they are pursuing or trusting in?

Vanderstelt provides the following list of questions that flow from the gospel story:

Creation – In what do they find their identity or sense of purpose and significance?
Fall – Whom or what is the fundamental problem they blame for the things that are broken in their lives?
Redemption – Whom or what are they looking to as their savior to rescue or deliver them?
New Creation – What does transformation look like and what is their ultimate hope for the future?

– Once we have listened well, we can begin to speak gospel truth into their story in a way they can understand and will hear.

Perhaps you are speaking to someone who has not yet trusted in Jesus Christ, you will be able to see where they are finding their identity, what problem they are facing, what functional savior they are trusting, and what hope they are holding on to in their lives. The gospel offers a better word—a new identity, an answer for our brokenness, a gracious Savior, and a secure hope.

This truth also applies in our discipleship relationships. Transformation happens when gospel truth meets real life. We must slow down and listen to one another’s stories rather than merely working through our bible studies. As we listen to another in discipleship, we can rehearse the gospel story and apply it to each other’s lives. The more we rehearse and apply the gospel to our lives in discipleship, the more equipped we will be to hear others and bring the gospel to bear on their stories.

Ask Questions…And Actually Listen

Francis Schaeffer once stated, “If I have only an hour with someone, I will spend the first fifty-five minutes asking them questions and finding out what is troubling their heart and mind, and then in the last five minutes I will share something of the truth.”¹

In order to do this you must think rightly about people. Every human being is made in the image of God, and we are called to display Christ-like love and compassion as we engage them. This skill also takes a level of curiosity, patience, and intentionality in our conversations. We must understand how people think, what questions they are asking, and what answers they are looking for. Not only that, but we must also find ways to ask them the questions that God asks of us. All of this will require us to ask questions and then to actually listen as they respond.

Jonathan Dodson captures this well:

“As you slow down, listen closely what people really believe; listen for the desire beneath the words. Where appropriate, ask questions like: How does that make you feel? What do you really want? If you could change the circumstances to fit exactly what you want, what would it be? Look for trigger words that indicate fear, joy, anxiety, hope, despair, concern, and anger. Then think about how Christ intersects that need. When you do this, you’ll find that the gospel says something that the person will find worth believing.” (Unbelievable Gospel, 50)

Dodson’s counsel brings to mind David Powlison’s x-ray questions. It probably should not surprise us that a biblical counselor would have great wisdom in helping us learn to listen well and apply the gospel to people’s lives. That is, after all, what biblical counseling is all about. By addressing the specific heart issues of people with gospel truth, true repentance and lasting change can occur. Notice that these questions can be used when seeking to share the gospel with a neighbor or encouraging a fellow believer in community:

What do you want out of that relationship?
What you working for in this job?
What do you fear in this situation?
What are your plans or intentions with this opportunity?
Who are you trying to please right now?
What really matters to you?
Where are you looking for comfort or security?
Whose opinion matters most to you?
How do you define success or failure in this particular situation?

Powlison offers the following explanation for these questions:

Notice that each question circles around the same basic issue: Who or what is your functional God/god? Many of the questions simply derive from the verbs that relate you to God: love, trust, fear, hope, seek, obey, take refuge, and the like. Each verb holds out a lamp to guide us to Him who is way, truth, and life. But each verb also may be turned into a question, holding up a mirror to show us where we stray.

Thinking this way and asking these kinds of questions is not a formula for success in evangelism or discipleship. However, it is a way of genuinely loving and compassionately engaging people. As we open ourselves up to others and they see our love for them, they will share their real questions, fears, and hopes. When they do, we must be ready to speak the gospel.

Speak the Gospel

Whether we ask these questions or use them as a filter to listen as people share their stories, we will be positioned to see real needs and point to real hope in Jesus Christ. Just as we must listen to people’s stories with the gospel story in mind, we must also be comfortable speaking gospel truth in response to people’s questions.

More than anyone else, Jonathan Dodson has helped me think through how to do this well. Dodson points out five gospel metaphors from the Scriptures that help us connect the gospel to people’s real needs in a believable way. Those metaphors are justification, new creation, redemption, adoption, and union with Christ.

These metaphors taken from Scripture display the richness of the gospel and its ability to speak to deep longings within the human heart—whether they are seeking acceptance, hope, intimacy, tolerance, approval, or community.

Listen to Jonathan explain this himself:

https://vimeo.com/107745823

The gospel is the answer to people’s deepest needs and most pressing questions. Dodson’s challenge to us is to ask, “How is the gospel the answer?” To answer that question, we must listen up. We need to share stories, ask good questions, listen with compassion, and then speak the gospel in a way that connects with real life and can be embraced by repentance and faith.

Michael Guyer is the Minister to Students at Open Door Church where he has served for the last five years. He gets most excited about good coffee, enjoying friends and family, making disciples, engaging culture, and planting churches. He writes to help others delight in, declare, and display the gospel in all of life. Connect with Michael on Twitter or his website.

This article was adapted with permission

Grayson Pope 6/4/17 Grayson Pope 6/4/17

Why You're Not Being Transformed

“In many cases our need to wonder about or be told what God wants in a certain situation is a clear indication of how little we are engaged in His work.” – Dallas Willard, Hearing God

As a pastor, I talk to people all the time who are frustrated with where they are spiritually. They want to be “better.” They desire to grow more like Christ. But they just aren’t getting anywhere.

They’re trying to address it, and many times even good things. They’re reading their Bible. They’re going to church every weekend. They’re even in a small group. But still, they’re not seeing any transformation. So what’s going on?

What they’re really saying is they’re not being transformed. That the power of God isn’t evident in their everyday life.

How transformation happens

Many of us have misconceptions about how we’re transformed into the likeness of Christ. We think we can just read different books or listen to different radio stations or go to church every week and somehow we’ll change into godly people.

The Bible teaches something very different, though. In terms of transforming the human heart, it teaches that we’re actually powerless to do anything. That left to ourselves we are incapable of being righteous before God. And that’s the glory of the gospel—that we are offered salvation and eternal life solely through the magnificent grace of God.

But when it comes to transforming how we live, the Bible’s teaching is that God transforms us through his Spirit by the power of his Word, and that we are to make every effort to strive to live godly lives. Most believers and their churches have at least a basic understanding of how God’s Word transforms and renews us. When it comes to making every effort to live godly lives, though, it seems that many of us are less clear.

Make every effort

The language of “make every effort” comes from the Apostle Peter’s epistle:

“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” – 2 Peter 1:5-7

We’re told that we should be exerting effort to supplement our faith with actions. That’s what the list that follows the command is referring to, these qualities of living that display on the outside how we’ve been changed on the inside. Now, notice that Peter says these efforts only supplement, not replace, our faith.

Perhaps nowhere is this same teaching seen as clearly as in the Apostle James’s writing, where we’re told simply to,

“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” – James 1:22

What James is saying here should shock us, because he’s saying that listening to the Word of God is not enough. Through James, the Holy Spirit is saying that listening to sermons and podcasts, reading Christian books, and even reading the Bible itself, none of these things are enough on their own. They must be accompanied by doing something, otherwise we’re just deceiving ourselves.

In John 8:44, the Apostle John tells us that Satan is a deceiver, using all kinds of schemes to distract us from obeying God. If we listen to the Word but never do anything with it, then we are doing his job for him. We are deceiving ourselves if all we’re doing is sitting through a church service on Sunday or even attending a group during the week, while not ministering to others in obedience to what we’ve heard.

Lack of Exercise

When someone breaks their leg and they can’t put weight on it, they have to do physical therapy when it’s time to walk again. That’s because their leg muscles have atrophied. They’ve shrunken from not being used.

When you exercise, you’re actually tearing muscle tissue. Muscle is being built up by continual tearing that is then healed by scar tissue. As that happens more and more, muscles begin to grow.

Many of us in the church experience spiritual atrophy. We’ve spent so much time taking information in that we’ve forgotten how to exercise what we’ve learned, and now our spiritual muscles have atrophied from lack of use.

What’s needed now is action—putting those muscles to use. And yes, it will be difficult. It may even be painful. But it’s only through the hard work of exercising our faith by the power of Spirit that we begin to see transformation. Because of his work of love in us, we work in love towards others. Exercise may tear your spiritual muscles, but the grace of God acts as the scar tissue that heals the wounds and builds you up into something more perfect along the way.

Doing and Sanctification

After James makes his case that believers should be doers of God’s Word, he says something very interesting:

“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” – James 1:25

That last phrase, “he will be blessed in his doing,” points out something that’s so often overlooked: that our sanctification happens as we minister to others. Our sanctification, our being transformed into the image of Christ, happens as we put our faith into action.

Most of us think we need to be transformed before we minister to other people. But what the Bible teaches is that we’re transformed as we minister to other people. It is in dying to ourselves, taking up our cross, and being obedient to Jesus that we’re transformed into the image of Jesus.

And that’s really what being “doers” of the Word means—being obedient to Jesus. So if we want to experience transformation, we need to ask ourselves if we’re being obedient to Jesus’s commands. Are we making disciples? Are we living on mission? Are we sharing our faith?

We can’t expect to become like Jesus if we’re not doing what he did. We can’t expect to be transformed if we’re not obeying his commands.

But this obedience isn’t oppressive, or something that should cause us to groan. God created us for good works.

How obedience to Christ brings freedom

In Ephesians 2:10, Paul tells us,

“We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

We are God’s workmanship. Another translation says that we are his masterpiece. And he created us as masterpieces for a reason, which is what? For good works.

We were saved by Christ that we might do good works in Christ. Which means we won’t fulfill God’s purpose for our life outside of obedience to Jesus. But in that obedience there is outlandish freedom.

That’s why James uses that paradoxical phrase, “the law of liberty.” He knows that if we’re obedient to Christ then we are free from the law and, ultimately, our sin. If we’re obedient to Christ, we are free to experience the transformation God has in store for us.

If we are obedient to Christ, we are free in Christ. Which is why Jesus said,

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. . . . So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8:31-32, 36

Grayson Pope is a husband to Maggie, father to three kids ages five, three, and one. He serves as the Pastor of Community at Mecklenburg Community Church. He’s also a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he’s pursuing a MACS.

Ben Connelly 6/1/17 Ben Connelly 6/1/17

Existing for Our Mission Fields

We are releasing Ben Connelly’s A Pastor’s Guide for Everyday Mission—which is about how not to forget the great commission and how to make, mature, and multiply disciples. You can buy a digital copy for $4.99 or a paperback copy for $8.99. Below is an excerpt from the book.

Peter writes the following, to Christians living in a society that did not regard Christianity any more highly than our own does:

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on m the day of visitation.” – 1 Peter 2:11–12

Peter’s imagery is poignant. Every Christian is a “sojourner” and “exile”; we live in a land not our own; our language, culture, goals, motives, and hopes are different than the inhabitants of this land. As ministers, we are the leaders of these sojourners and exiles modeling and helping God’s people live out their faith in this foreign land. Peter tells us how to model that well: on one hand, we “abstain from the passions of the flesh.” We do this by fighting sin and for holiness; and for ministers, we lead others in the same. On the other hand, we don’t do this by hiding away from the world where God has sent us. Instead, God’s people live out our faith “among the Gentiles”—the first century word for “not-God’s-people”! That means we display our true hope in Jesus and declare the gospel in the midst of that society who doesn’t believe in either; and, for ministers, we lead others in the same.

Several years ago, I attended a conference session called “for the city.” The presenters—a local church pastor and a non-profit leader who partnered with that church—described four different postures that ministries and leaders often take toward their mission field.

In the city – This posture simply exists in a certain locality, but has little impact on it; this leads to apathy toward the world God sent them into.
Against the city – This posture has a mentality that says “the church is good; the city is bad”; this leads to isolation from the world God sent them into.
Of the city – This posture look so much like the city that the gospel seems to make no difference; this leads to being taken over by the world God sent them into.
For the city – This posture seeks the shalom of the city or its overall welfare which is found most fully in Jesus; this leads to a deep care for the world God sent them into.

The world around us is broken. Sin and disbelief in God run rampant. Idols seem to be erected everyday. But rather than run from the souls God put us in the midst of, rather then give up our convictions and live like the culture around us, and rather than apathy toward the brokenness we see, we must lead our people to engage it—no matter how hard.

GOD’S MISSION; THIS CULTURE

The US Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling for same-sex marriage prompted an outcry from conservative American Christians: this may be overstated, but the theme of the mourning and anger (against both God and man) seemed to be that there had never been anything as evil or reprobate anywhere on earth or at any point in history.

Canadian pastor Carey Nieuwhof responded to the American Outcry with a blog post outlining five poignant perspectives from ministering in one of the twenty plus nations where similar laws had already been passed. His words are a helpful case study as we consider answering the needs that exist in our culture today:

The Church has always been counter-cultural – Regardless of your theological position, all your views as a Christian are counter-cultural and always will be. If your views are cultural, you’re probably not reading the Scriptures closely enough.
It’s actually strange to ask non-Christians to hold Christian values – Non-Christians usually act more consistently with their value system than you do. Chances are they are better at living out their values than you or I are. Jesus never blamed pagans for acting like pagans. But he did speak out against religious people for acting hypocritically.
You’ve been dealing with sex outside of traditional marriage for a long time – If you believe gay marriage is not God’s design, you’re dealing with the same issue you’ve been dealing with all along—sex outside of its God-given context. You don’t need to treat it any differently.
The early church never looked to the government for guidance – Rather than asking the government to release him from prison, Paul wrote letters from prison talking about the love of Jesus Christ. Instead of looking to the government for help, Paul and Jesus looked to God.
Our judgment of LGBT people is destroying any potential relationship – You were saved by grace. Your sins are simply different than others. And honestly, in many respects, they are the same. People don’t line up to be judged. But they might line up to be loved.

Nieuwhof says in his opening, “Even the first 72 hours of social media reaction [since the decision was publicized] has driven a deeper wedge between Christian leaders and the LGBT community Jesus loves (yes, Jesus died for the world because he loves it).”

I mention the 2015 decision and Nieuwhof’s response, not because of the issue itself but for two reasons. First, it’s simply one example among many of our shifting culture. Second, it contrasts typical responses that ministers—and Christians in general—can have, with some examples of thoughtful, biblical truths. Jesus’ followers need to be reminded of these as we learn to wrestle with our status as “sojourners and exiles” in a land not our own. Similar truths are needed for every issue, sin, and struggle—in our own lives and in society.

The response to an increasingly-pluralistic culture isn’t to retreat; it’s to advance. Christians are light into the darkness, ministers of reconciliation, humble servants of God and man, lovers of neighbors and enemies, and priests who declare the excellencies of Jesus to the world around us. And ministers must lead others to live as if that’s all true.

POINTING OUR CULTURE TO THE ONE TRUE ANSWER

May I close this chapter by musing a bit? Maybe Christianity truly is losing a cultural war. But maybe—just maybe—we have the wrong view altogether, and the realities of a shifting culture are awakening a giant who’s been sleeping since the days of Constantine. Maybe Christendom actually cheapened the true faith and life Christians are called to live. Maybe Christian values were never intended to thrive as an interwoven reality with government. Maybe culturally-accepted religious practice and the “return to Judeo-Christian values” many yearn for have done more harm than good to peoples’ pursuit of true holiness and understanding of the life of following Jesus.

The second chapter of Peter’s first letter—right after Peter charges Christians to live out their faith in the midst of people who disregarded and even hated them—specifically tells us that part of this counter-cultural life is submitting to the authority of “every human institution, whether it be to the emperor or to governors [or even] to your masters”—even when they’re “unjust” (2:13-18). First Peter 3 tells us that a Christian view of marriage is different than that of a pleasure-seeking world, who pursues its own definition and expression of beauty and self-fulfillment (3:1-7). And the rest of Peter’s letter explains that Christians will suffer, for our views and our lives that look different than those around us. We’ll be rejected, persecuted, and hated by the very people among whom God calls us to live out our faith.

If we didn’t know better, we might think that these words were written about today’s society. And yet they were written 2000 years ago to Christians like you and me, sent to a culture unlike their own just like you and me, and called to display and declare the gospel to that culture just like you and me, so that “they may see your good deeds and glorify God”—so that God might use our lives, lived publicly for him, to draw some to himself.

The truth of Peter’s words—to Christians then and now—is that Christians are freed to follow human authorities, because our hope lies in One True Authority; we can hold a biblical view of marriage, because we realize that it reflects something far greater than ourselves; we can suffer well, even for the sake of others, because we know we follow a true King who suffered on our behalf!

“What’s the world coming to?!” It’s coming to the same place as always, but rarely known: a desperate need for Jesus. And while that need may have seemed hidden, subtle, or buried during Christendom’s reign over our culture, the need is becoming more and more clear (if it isn’t already). Who are we, ministers? We are God’s missionaries and we have the answer to every need of the culture in which we exist. Let’s go into the darkness and by God’s grace help our world find the answer to its every need.

Ben Connelly, his wife Jess, and their daughters Charlotte and Maggie live in Fort Worth, TX. He started and now co-pastors The City Church, part of the Acts29 network and Soma family of churches. Ben is also co-author of A Field Guide for Everyday Mission (Moody Publishers, 2014). With degrees from Baylor University and Dallas Theological Seminary, Ben teaches public speaking at TCU, writes for various publications, trains folks across the country, and blogs in spurts at benconnelly.net. Twitter: @connellyben.

Josh Shank 5/30/17 Josh Shank 5/30/17

New Book Release | A Pastor's Guide for Everyday Mission

We are releasing Ben Connelly’s A Pastor's Guide for Everyday Mission—which is about how not to forget the great commission and how to make, mature, and multiply disciples. Here’s a description of the book:

After fifteen plus years of vocational ministry, Ben Connelly had an epiphany. He had missed the great commission. He was really good at keeping Christians happy and really bad at making disciples. A Pastor’s Guide to Everyday Mission helps those in paid ministry positions rediscover—and live—their life as God’s missionaries, even as they minister to God’s people. Without burdening you with the guilt and shame he once felt, Connelly charges his peers in ministry to look over the walls of our Christian castles and realize that there are always more people “out there” than there are “in here.” A Pastor’s Guide to Everyday Mission will free you to let down your drawbridge, go out to the people to whom God sent you, and lead others across the bridge and into the world with you.

You can buy a digital copy for $4.99 or a paperback copy for $8.99. Below is an excerpt from the introduction. We will share another selection from this book on Friday!

Mathew B. Sims, Managing Editor

“I’m really good at appeasing Christians, and really bad at making disciples.”

In 2009, this crippling epiphany overwhelmed me. I was in “vocational ministry” since I was a freshman in college. While reading the New Testament for a seminary class, I started to get the nagging feeling that something was off. I didn’t know what exactly, but clouds gathered at the horizon of my mind. As I read over and over about the New Testament Church and compared its life and ministry to the ministry of the churches I’d worked for, everything seemed to get eerily still. As page after page showed disciples made and sent, the church loving its neighbors and those in need, church leaders called to love not-yet-believers in their midst, and even Jesus’ prayer that his Father not take Christians out of the world, I became disoriented; everything seemed to go into slow-motion.

Then I read the Great Commission.

I’d read it maybe two-hundred times before. But not like this. A tidal wave rose from nowhere. Looming. Rushing toward me. It crashed down: I’m really good at keeping Christians happy and really bad at making disciples. We had a decent-sized college ministry and praise God, he used even our lack of missional intentionality to bring some students to himself. But by and large, I felt like I was paid to keep Christian students liking our church’s ministry more than other churches’ ministries.

But the Great Commission isn’t to appease Christians. It’s to “go make disciples” (Matthew 28:19)! Whether in our hometowns, across the world, or somewhere between, my calling—long before I was a pastor—was to be a missionary! The wave crushed me. Drenched in shame and remorse, I began to question my purpose in life and ministry. I wondered if, in God’s eyes, I was a total fraud.

Following that season, I walked through the feelings of shame, remorse, and hypocrisy. I realized that some of the feelings stemmed from emotion; others, however, I rightly repented of, and have come to rest in God’s grace. (At least most of the time.) But the principle stands: whatever role we play, every follower of Jesus on earth is a missionary, sent to make disciples. And that’s especially true for those of us in paid ministry positions.

Joey Tomlinson 5/28/17 Joey Tomlinson 5/28/17

Become Idolaters by Forgetting the Gospel

We all know people who are not Christians who live good, quiet, and moral lives (according to outward standards of living). Many non-Christians give to charities, help the poor, feed the hungry and clothe the naked. These people really do tangible good. These people are concerned about living a good and moral life for a variety of reasons—good reputations, species preservation, etc. We live in a humanistic age meaning we “live in the midst of people who argue that you can live a good life without being a Christian. They say it is about time people grew up and began to think and to cease to cling to this non-sense about God and an unseen world, and that all this talk of a so-called incarnation and redemption and all the rest of it.”^[1]

These people say, “We don’t need it anymore. We are no longer primitive. Christianity was our first attempt at understanding and morality, but not our best attempt. We are now enlightened and educated. It’s time to move on.”

There exist in our families and friends these types of people that live good, decent, generous lives according to outward standards and say—“See, I’m a decent person, yet I’m not a superstitious, brainwashed disciple. I don’t need the crutch of Christianity to live a good and decent life.”

As Christians we can and should acknowledge the reality that non-believers can be compassionate, loving, and generous. These acts are a part of God’s common grace to the world despite the whole world not acknowledging his universal Lordship.

However, there is no basis whatsoever for why moral and good non-believers behave the way they behave. They may appeal to common good or human solidarity, but our trendy culture dictates its definition. I contend that apart from the Infinite we appeal to the finite for truth and that’s a dangerous place to reside.

The very unusual thing to me is while Christians may boisterously shout “AMEN!” to what I just mentioned, we often (most of the time unintentionally) live this way ourselves. We commend ourselves toward good works apart from the gospel of God. We treat the Christian life as if one day we will stand before God hoping our good deeds will outweigh our bad deeds and that we will deserve a spot in eternity. We guilt ourselves toward good works and because of that our good works are no longer produced out of a gratefulness for the gospel but out of religious obligation.

Everything we do as believers should be inside the framework of the gospel. Good works apart from the gospel have no real foundation and are themselves idols leading us away from savoring Christ.

The Apostle Paul in Romans 8:12-17 gives us a great reminder as believers. He states,

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

The Apostle Paul reminds us of several truths in this passage:

You are no longer orphans, but adopted sons and daughters of the Most-High King therefore, act like it. Because of the perfect righteousness of the God-man, Jesus Christ you are no longer a hopeless orphan. You have a Father, so cease to behave as if you are an orphan.
Good works in the life of a believer are empowered by the Holy Spirit. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to produce Christ’s character in believers (Gal. 5:22-23).
Those who persevere to the end are the true adopted sons and daughters of God. Let me be clear—our good works do not save us; we are justified by grace alone through faith alone. The Apostle Paul is saying that one of the evidences this side of eternity that we have been changed by the gospel is our repentance. Those who continually repent and believe the gospel are those God has adopted and those God has adopted will never be snatched away (Jn. 10:28-30). Those who do not continually repent and believe the gospel were never saved to begin with (Jas. 2:18-20).

How can we be sure we are commending ourselves to good works within the context of the gospel? Here are a few practical applications that I believe are grounded in God’s Word:

Read and study God’s Word – A great place to start is Romans 7 and 8. Paul reminds us of the deceitful heart (Rom. 7), which progresses into a clear reminder (Rom. 8) that we labor in good works as uncondemned men because we are in Christ.
Remind yourself of the gospel message daily – A great passage to memorize is 1 Corinthians 15:3-6.^[2] A gratefulness for the gospel will always fuel good works with Christ in view as supremely valuable.
Become a member of a local church (Heb. 10:25) – You want to be invested in a gospel-centered community of folks who are committed to reminding each other of the truthfulness of the gospel and the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12-14).
Remember the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) – Your Christian testimony and character is important in fulfilling the Great Commission. Take your role and calling seriously.
To Pastors—preach the gospel from your pulpit every week (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 15:1-4) – When you fail to preach the gospel in your sermons you succeed in promoting behavior modification and this enslaves people (Rom 7:10). Every cult in the world teaches behavior modification. Preach the gospel always (2 Tim. 4:2).

As believers, we have a responsibility to pursue holiness and to flee sin by the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God and the sake of the gospel.

[1] Lloyd-Jones, Martyn, D. Spiritual Depression: Its causes and its cures. 1965.

[2] “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.”

Joey Tomlinson lives in Yorktown, VA with his wife, Brayden and their son, Henry Jacob. He has served as a pastor at Coastal Community Church for over 10 years and is pursuing his doctorate in biblical counseling at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also blogs over at Servants of Grace.

David Murray 5/25/17 David Murray 5/25/17

Someone More Important Than Your BFF

Relate

My ministry has taken me to many places in the world, but no matter how exotic or beautiful the location, it always felt empty and hollow without my wife and children to enjoy it with me. In contrast, my family and I recently traveled to the United Kingdom to surprise my parents on their golden wedding anniversary. It was one of the most memorable trips of my life, not only for the joy we gave to my parents, but also for the joy of doing such a trip together, sharing in one another’s lives. The joy of a journey depends so much on who’s riding with us.

As God said, “It is not good that man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). If a perfect man in a perfect world in a perfect relationship with God needed to hear that, how much more do sinful men in a sinful world in far-from-sinless relationships with God? It is not good for man to be alone. Man. That’s me. That’s you. Yet so many of us still try to live largely independent, solitary, disconnected, and self-sufficient lives. The result, as predicted, is “not good.”

Central to God’s answer to this “not goodness” was his provision of a wife to move the state of men from “not good” to “very good.” But there are other key relationships in our lives we must consciously cultivate, especially in a fallen world, if we are to avoid “not good” and move toward “very good”: our relationships with God, with our wives, with our children, with our pastors/elders, and with our friends. Even if we just get that order of priorities right, it will make a massive difference.

Relationship with God

Like all healthy and satisfying relationships, our relationship with God needs time and energy. But giving time and energy to our relationship with God actually increases free time and energy because it helps us get a better perspective on life and order our priorities better, it reduces the time we spend on image management, and it removes fear and anxiety.

Here are some things that have helped me to keep my personal relationship with God personal and avoid falling into the trap of relating to him only through my ministry to others:

Guarded time. I try to guard personal Bible reading and prayer time as jealously as I guard my own children. I keep my six twenty appointment with God each morning as zealously as if it were an appointment for kidney dialysis.

Undistracted mind. In a survey of eight thousand of its readers, desiringGod.org found that 54 percent checked their smartphones within minutes of waking up. More than 70 percent admitted that they checked email and social media before their spiritual disciplines.¹ I agree with Tony Reinke, who commented, “Whatever we focus our hearts on first in the morning will shape our entire day.” So I have resolved not to check email, social media, or the news before my devotional time, as I want to bring a mind that is as clear and focused as possible to God’s Word.

Vocal prayers. As I always pray better when I pray out loud, I like to find a place where I can do so without embarrassment. Hearing my own prayers helps me improve the clarity and intensity of my prayer. Also, I cannot cover up a wandering heart or mind so easily when I pray out loud.

Varied devotions. Sometimes I read a psalm, a chapter from the Old Testament, and a chapter from the New. Other times I read just one chapter or part of a chapter and spend longer meditating on it. Or I may read through a Bible book with a good commentary. Though the speed varies, I do try to make sure that I’m reading systematically through both testaments and not just jumping around here and there.

Good sleep. If I get a good seven to eight hours of sleep each night, I come to God’s Word with more energy and concentration.

Christ-centered sermons. Using sites such as sermonaudio.com, I listen to many preachers outside my own tradition because I often find their approach to texts refreshing and stimulating.

Christ-centered books. Books that draw me into communion with Christ include John Owen’s The Glory of Christ and Spiritual Mindedness; John Flavel’s Christ the Fountain of Life; and, more recently, Mark Jones’s Knowing Christ.

Selfish reading. Sometimes I read a book exclusively for my own soul. I resolve that I won’t use it for any sermon, article, or lecture, and that I won’t share any of it on social media. This makes a significant difference to the way I read and the profit I get from it.

Daily reminders. In order to maintain or recover communion with God through the day, I link regular daily habits with prayer or meditation. For example, I may use a coffee break to remind myself to pray, or I may use a time of standing in line to memorize a verse written on a card.

This personal relationship with God is so important because character is so important. Dave Kraft, author of Leaders Who Last, quotes statistics that show only 30 percent of leaders finish well, and in his experience, failures to do so usually happened because popularity and professionalism took the place of character in Christian leaders’ lives. He writes that “in many quarters there seems to be a tendency to overlook a lack of character in one’s personal and private life in exchange for a high degree of success in one’s professional life. . . . Most leaders focus too much on competence and too little on character.”² General Norman Schwarzkopf agrees: “Ninety-nine percent of leadership failures are failures of character.”³ Character is formed primarily in communion with God. We put this relationship first because it is the most influential in all other relationships, not least in our marriages.

[1] Tony Reinke, “Six Wrong Reasons to Check Your Phone in the Morning: And a Better Way Forward,” Desiring God, June 6, 2015, http://www.desiringgod.org/articles /six-wrong-reasons-to-check-your-phone-in-the-morning.

[2] Dave Kraft, Leaders Who Last (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 95–96.

[3] Cited in James C. Hunter, The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle (New York: Crown Business, 2004), 141.

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.

Jeremy Writebol 5/23/17 Jeremy Writebol 5/23/17

The Liberating Grace of Generosity

What if I told you that you live daily wearing a straitjacket? How crazy would that be?! Thinking yourself free and unbounded you, like a person in need of restraint to keep from hurting yourself, you bind yourself up so that you don't become too excessive or lavish. The straitjacket is one you put on yourself, but it's also likely that the straps of this jacket have been pulled tighter by religious types. If you accomplish and achieve their standards, you feel better because you can check the box and validate your goodness. If you don't measure up to the straitjacket standard you feel shame, guilt, dishonor, and anxiety. The straitjacket is pulled tighter, and the pressure to perform is all the greater. Insanity! Is this what Christianity is? A straitjacket of rules and regulations? Is Christianity a set of metrics for the fruit of the Spirit? If Christ came to set us free then why do we wear a straitjacket of laws around our lives instead of being free to enjoy grace and flourish in holiness? If the gospel is "Good News" then where is the good news for us in the realm of giving and generosity? Are we bound to give ten percent?

I'm convinced that many Christians live with straitjackets around their hearts and wallets. The fear they live under demonstrates itself either by making them afraid to loosen the straitjacket and hold with open hands the resources they have, or it makes them tighten their fists around what they have all the more, lest they lose it. If they hit the magic "ten percent" mark though, all is well with God and man.

This kind of approach doesn't sound like generosity to me. It doesn't sound like “giving” either. I suppose if I had to compare the practice of giving ten percent to something, it would feel more like taxation. The danger could be we are expecting and believing that if we do our part, meet our quota, and hit the mark then we are living right.

Jesus and the Straitjacket

Lately, as I’ve read the four Gospels, I can’t help be struck by Jesus’s generosity. He is constantly giving in some fashion or another. The demands upon him were great—heal this friend, cast out that demon, teach at this town, feed that crowd, serve this poor woman, or pay that disciples’s taxes. I don’t ever recall Jesus saying, “No, I’ve hit my quota today. Ten percent is all I have to give. I’m done.”

If anything it was the other way around. The greater the demands and requests upon Jesus the more open his hands were to give, serve, and love. It doesn't seem that Jesus had many world possessions. He even told someone who wanted to follow him, "The Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Lk. 9:58, CSB). We often think of Jesus’s lack of material wealth as a result of his vocational choices. But what if his material poverty was intentional? What if he actually gave away everything he possessed.

I'd like to think, through Paul's reflection, that Jesus was intentionally poor because he was intentionally generous. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich’ (2 Cor. 8:9, CSB). Note the verb in this verse—“became.” Jesus’s poverty was an act of intentionality. He saw the need of the human race that could do nothing to rescue and help itself. He gave. He saw the way we suffocate ourselves with legalism and works and gave himself to free us from death-by-tithe.

Jesus didn't wear the straitjacket of ten-percent. He became poor so that he could liberate, model, and earn real generosity for all his people. He saw the straitjackets of the Pharisees and scribes. They wore them well and helped others suit-up into straitjackets of their own. Because they were so fearful of breaking the Law, they would go to the extreme of emptying the kitchen cupboards of their spices and measure out ten percent of the mint, cumin, and dill to be sure they could say they gave ten percent of everything away (Matt. 23:23, Lk. 11:42). As good as they were at honoring the tithe principle though, they lacked generosity, justice, and mercy. Real generosity eluded them.

Gospel-Informed Generosity

If generosity is not measured by a percentage (however high or low you want to make it) but by Jesus’s own example, it begs the question, how generous are we really? Could it be that we have not perceived the depth of the gospel to such a degree that we are changed by the gospel? Or are we afraid there won’t be enough of God’s generosity for us as well?

Fear not! By the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we too can become generous like Jesus. We can hold with open hands all that we have in order to love God and serve others. We can become poor so that through our poverty we might make others rich in Christ. The straitjacket can be loosed, and we can be freed to be gospel-generous people.

An Invitation to Gospel-Centered Generosity

I’d like to invite you as well to imitate Jesus’s generosity. My hope is that you are supporting the work of the ministry through your local church and giving priority to generously supporting the ministry and pastors that feed you the Word of God each week (see 1 Corinthians 9:14 and 1 Timothy 5:17-18).

As you give to your local church, I'd also like to ask you to consider giving to support the ministry of Gospel-Centered Discipleship. Our purpose is to publish resources to help make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus. While we operate each month on a limited budget and scope, our desire is—if God wills—to increase our reach and serve Christ by equipping the church with excellent resources for the advance of the gospel.

Practically speaking, we’d like to increase our reach through hiring more editorial staff, updating aspects of our website, and funding and developing creative writers who have the gifts of excellence with words. You can support us coming alongside the church and discipling writers in three ways:

If you have found an article particularly useful for your own growth would you toss a "tip in the jar" to support the development of more articles and resources? You can make a one-time donation here.
Would you consider being a monthly donor to our ministry and making a contribution to the work of our ministry on a regular basis? If one-hundred of our readers were able to give $5 a month to our work, we'd be able to move forward in some accelerated ways. You can contribute on an ongoing basis by following this link.
If you would like to fund one of our major projects like website development, staff positions, or other opportunities would you please contact me to allow me to share more of our vision with you.

May the grace of God through Christ be in your gaze. May you know and believe in him as the one who generously gave all he had, even his very life, so that, “He might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7, CSB).

Jeremy Writebol is the Executive Director of GCD. He is the husband of Stephanie and father of Allison and Ethan. He serves as the lead campus pastor of Woodside Bible Church in Plymouth, MI. He is also an author and contributor to several GCD Books including everPresent and Make, Mature, Multiply. He writes personally at jwritebol.net.

You can read all of Jeremy’s articles here.

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Whitney Woollard 5/21/17 Whitney Woollard 5/21/17

3 Ways Jesus’s Priestly Work Destroys Soul-Fatigue

A pastor once told me that in his twenties he couldn’t fathom how his friends fell into moral failure or quit vocational ministry. But now, in his fifties, he understands the plausibility of both. I didn’t understand him then. I do now. Pressing forward in faith when you’re getting slammed with trial or temptation is exhausting. The truth is, life is exhausting. We’re bombarded with needs from the minute we awake to a screaming baby to the last text we send to someone we’re discipling. Over time those day-to-day pressures fatigue us. We push and press until one day we’re too tired to go on.

It’s possible to continue the outward mechanics of life, but inwardly check out. Or worse still, give yourself over to soul-numbing sin. Both are common responses to what I call “soul-fatigue.” Soul-fatigue isn’t “I need another cup of coffee” fatigue. It’s “I don’t see a way forward” fatigue. And, eventually, we all experience it.

So how do we persevere when everything inside of us wants to check out of life or find relief in sin?

Ask Your High Priest for Help

It might seem basic, but what you need most when you’re soul-fatigued is Jesus’s help. Whether your need stems from life’s external blows or your own internal temptation, Jesus’s priestly work draws you near to the throne of grace to help you persevere in your time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16 says,

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

These verses are tucked within the larger context of Hebrews where the author is repeatedly calling his readers to persevere in the Christian faith despite persecution, temptation, and trial. They were growing weary in the faith and were tempted to give up and go back to their old way of life. They were ready to check out.

But the author urges his readers to press on in the midst of trials and temptations because Christ is superior to the angels, to Moses, to the former priests, and to the old covenant sacrificial system. Believers must not turn away. Rather, he admonishes them to look to Jesus, their great high priest. In him, they would find true rest for their souls and courage to persevere until he returns.

This truth is as true for you today as it was for them—Jesus’s priestly work draws you near to the throne of grace to help you persevere in your time of need. So, you need to ask him for help and allow him to minister to you.

3 Ways Jesus’s Priestly Work Destroys Soul-Fatigue

The ways in which Jesus’s priestly work helps you persevere through soul-fatigue are many. Here are three that stand out to me from Hebrews 4:14-16.

– Jesus prays for you.

Have you ever wondered what Jesus is doing in heaven until he returns at his second coming? He’s praying for you! Hebrews 4:14 says that he ascended into heaven and he now sits at the Father’s right hand (Col. 2:20) and intercedes for us (Rom. 8:34). He is exalted in this intercessory role.

Imagine the scene in the heavenly throne room. Jesus sits beside God and asks him to work on your behalf. “Father, [fill in your name] needs your help today. Increase her faith. Enable her to keep going. Send her encouragement for the moment.” Jesus prays for you, even on days you feel too weak to pray for yourself.

Meditating on this truth is one way to persevere in the faith: When you’re tempted to check out, remember that Jesus is praying for you. When you want to give up on that draining discipleship relationship, Jesus is praying for you. When you don’t know how you’re going to make your marriage work, Jesus is praying for you. When you can’t get out of bed, Jesus is praying for you.

– Jesus “gets” you.

Not only is Jesus praying for you, Hebrews 4:15 says he’s doing so as one who “gets it.” You have a high priest who empathizes with you in all of your weaknesses. He understands the limitations of a fallen body, the sting of injustice, the loss of loved ones, the frustrations of discipleship, the abandonment and betrayal by friends, the fatigue of ministry, and the full weight of temptation (though he never succumbed and sinned). He partook of everything you endure so that he could be your sympathetic priest.

It’s easy to think that “nobody understands” your struggles. How often have you dismissively said to someone, “You wouldn’t understand”? When we grow fatigued with the life or work God assigned us, it’s tempting to feel like we’re the only ones who has ever felt this frustration. But the truth is, Jesus understands exactly what you’re going through.

Reminding yourself that Jesus took on the full weight of humanity so he could be an empathetic high priest is another way you persevere in the faith. You’re not alone! The Son of God intimately understands your struggles and lives to help you in them. That’s the third point.

– Jesus helps you.

Hebrews 4:16 tells you that you can draw near to the throne of grace to get mercy to help in your hour of need. This is only because of Jesus’ priestly work. His sacrificial work on your behalf cleanses you of sin and enables you to approach God with boldness.

If you’ve put your faith in Jesus, you can go to God and pour out your honest thoughts, requests, and needs. You don’t have to be afraid that you will be punished. And you don’t have to be ashamed to ask God for help. It doesn’t matter how embarrassing your temptation is, Jesus stands ready to pour out grace to empower you to overcome sin. He wants to help you say “no” to temptation.

He also offers grace to you when you don’t say “no” to sin. Unlike Jesus, there will be times when you give into sin. You’ll bark at your spouse because you’re frustrated with yourself. You’ll binge eat after an emotional fight with your teenager. You’ll look at a website because you want immediate relief. You will fail. And when you do Jesus is right there ready to forgive you and lift you up out of that sin. He will do so again and again until the final day when you will perfectly submit to the Father just as Jesus did.

Run to Jesus

That pastor was right. There’s a kind of soberness that accompanies aging. As time goes by, you see and experience things that weary you. You get tired. You go through seasons where you sit behind the steering wheel of your car and dream of driving far, far away in a one-way direction. Checking out or giving in seem like the only plausible options. (Yes, even Christians experience this.)

But they’re not. There’s an alternative—You can run to Jesus. Or, maybe limp to Jesus. The point is, go to Jesus!

You have a high priest who is dripping with compassion. He’s not waiting to shame you for being weak or weary. He wants to sit with you; to listen to you and pray for you. He’s eager to give you the ministry of his presence and to bind your wounds with his healing grace. He’s there to strengthen you and help you persevere in your time of need. It’s only when you run to him that you’ll experience the rest and relief you need in your soul-fatigue.

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.

Mark Sayers 5/18/17 Mark Sayers 5/18/17

Technology and Lost Art of Livedness

Another border to transgress is the border erected by emerging technologies between life and our online, disembodied lives. That Christianity could have anything to say about our approach to technology may seem legalistic at first, but an essential dimension of following Christ is participating in His body, and this is a flesh-and-blood existence. One of the most beautiful aspects of Christianity is that the incredible truth that Christ saves us in His body of flesh by the Spirit is not something we apprehend only spiritually. We meditate on it, we receive it, we build our lives on it, yes, but we can also have dinner with it. I’m talking here about the church.

The church is the body of Christ. Local assemblies are designed to bear witness to Him—to be His hands and feet. As Christ is love and lives His life in the Spirit, so the church is love and lives its life in the Spirit. “Such a community is the primary hermeneutic of the gospel,” declares Newbigin, for “all the statistical evidence goes to show that those within our secularized societies who are being drawn out of unbelief to faith in Christ say that they were drawn through the friend- ship of a local congregation.” Just as the temple was the magnet people were drawn to, the life of the Spirit lived in the temple “of a collective body” becomes magnetic itself. Faithfully proclaiming Christ and patterning our lives after Him—imitating His love, embodying His teachings, inviting outsiders to the table—this is how the world sees Christ.

The very lived nature of Christian communal life increasingly becomes rare in the twenty-first-century world, for livedness is downplayed in our culture. The organs of power increasingly communicate to us through the digital world. We rarely meet politicians; rather, we see their digitalized forms daily. We do not experience the influence of celebrities, sports stars, and the titans of business in an enfleshed form. Rather, to experience their impact we must consume images and information about them via the Internet or television. Less and less do we get to know our local bank teller, find out how their kids are, or chat with the cashier in our favorite store. Such interactions now hover in digital form on our screens, ensconced in a part of our consciousness.

One day, after entering this online consciousness to consume the news, I was confronted with a social landscape stretched to the breaking point. Divisions between left and right, angry tweets, indignant punditry, terrorism, tensions over the place of Islam in the West. Putting down my iPad and heading out the door to pick up my daughter from school, I reenter the lived world.

There I feel awareness of my body moving, my legs stretching as I walk down the hill. The sun warms the back of my neck. Entering the school, before me runs the gamut of Western multiculturalism. A myriad of different ethnicities and religions, all acting in a wonderfully mundane ballet of wiping kids’ noses, dragging along toddlers, holding basketballs and footballs under their arms, lugging scooters and schoolbags. Instead of a fractious, fragmented, fiery online reality, there is calm, peace, a pleasant parallel universe. Friendly nods, waves of recognition, the hum of small talk.

I watch a young mum arrive, holding in her arms a newborn baby. Smiles break out. Quickly she is surrounded by a handful of other mothers, all beaming at the new arrival, kisses and hugs of congratulations are exchanged. Women in tank tops and yoga pants, some in jeans and tattoos, others in multicolored Islamic scarves. There is no tension, no arguments, no flaming tweets, just a group of humans, interacting face-to-face as we have always interacted. United in the small bandwidth of mundane activities humans have always engaged in. This is the real world. This is the enfleshed world.

Despite all of the adulation given to the digital landscape, despite its increasing incursion into our lives, we still live in the enfleshed, ordinary world. Just look how we crane our necks, uncomfortably walk with our gaze set on our screens, commune with sofa and at screen. It is not our home, but a temporary place of residence for our attentions, a distraction, an echo chamber of opinions and vain words.

At risk of seeming to tell a sentimental story in which a newborn baby unites humanity and undoes all of the problems I have outlined in this book, I wish to clarify my point. We live most of our lives in the real world. We live part of our lives in the feverish, hovering space of the digital world. Such a world can overwhelm us with its immersive power, leaving us ill-equipped for the reality of livedness. The influence of the online world, with all of its divisions and distractions, can lead us even as believers to take it as normative. Fretting and fearing at our cultural turn. However, there is a hope that many have missed. Christians, formed by the church, shaped by its relational rhythms, abiding with Christ, fighting flesh and living in the Spirit, are built for the real world. It is the realm in which the church flourishes and creates community with a heavenly destination.

The church provides good news. Re-centering life around the worship of God, it is the perfect environment for human flourishing. It gives needed, but also tough, medicine for those formed and shaped by the contours of our digitized, consumer-driven world. For the change we are living through wrought by social media and the digital world is a technological one, yet it is shaped by an ideology, a dogma of techno utopianism.

The initial designer of the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee, states that the web is not so much a technological invention but a social one. It was a platform to create social change, one whose supporting pillars were radical individualism, mystical faith in the power of technology and innovation, and the Californian counterculture’s resistance to authority, which is soaked deep in the soil beneath the industrial parks of Silicon Valley.

The original visionaries of our online worlds, observes tech commentator Andrew Keen, “imported the sixties’ disruptive libertarianism, its rejection of hierarchy and authority, its infatuation with openness, transparency and personal authenticity, and its global communitarianism into the culture of what has become known as ‘cyberspace.’ Their vision was to unite all human beings in a global network linked by computers.” This vision is a digital non-place. It believes that digital networks and online worlds can offer us community and connection while preserving our individual autonomy and freedom. It is this ideology, not the technology itself, which does the damage to our psychological, social, and spiritual selves.

The anxiety that hums like a computer in the background of our contemporary lives alerts us—not to the inherent danger in technology—but rather the inability of digital networks to deliver human flourishing and the deep connection for which the human soul desires. Yes, the new digital landscape has delivered handy ways to connect, as well as unparalleled access to information. Yet its technological utopianism, now monetized and designed to elicit consumer desires at a neurological level, has profoundly formed us. To move from the pure “livedness” of this digital, consumeristic, constantly connected state of being, into the pure “livedness” of the church, can be a jarring one. The gospel invitation into the community of discipleship, which is the church, can seem far from good news. It can feel like a cold shower.

Mark Sayers is the Senior Leader of Red Church, and the co-founder of Über Ministries. He is particularly interested in the intersection between Christianity and the culture of the West. Mark lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife Trudi, daughter Grace, and twin boys Hudson and Billy.

A Momentous Upheaval

A Delightful Surprise

A Gracious Pattern

Lie: Loneliness Is Pure Evil

Lie: I Shouldn’t Have to Be Alone

Lie: I Can Fix This Myself

The Light of Truth

[1] Barnes and Bock, “5 Myths and Truths in Loneliness.”

[2] Ibid.

We Should Want to Grow Up Too

Five Ways to Eat the Word

– Hearing the Word

– Reading the Word

– Memorizing the Word

– Meditating on the Word

– Studying the Word

KEEPING THE END IN MIND

REGULAR FOLK

BUILDING FENCE

– Anchor Post #1: Gospel-Centered

– Anchor Post #2: The Local Church

– Anchor Post #3: Equipping People

– Anchor Post #4: Mission in Community

The Biblical Mandate

Own your affluence

Spend time with the poor

Open your home

Move to the "poor part of town"

Cultivate church gatherings that welcome the poor

Throw a party

Use your affluence for influence

What does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness?

Have we been persecuted for righteousness?

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

God’s Heart

“This is my beloved Son”

Our Response

HARMFUL WORLDWIDE PRACTICES

Tell me your story!

– Listening well to people’s stories means listening with the gospel story in mind.

– Once we have listened well, we can begin to speak gospel truth into their story in a way they can understand and will hear.

Ask Questions…And Actually Listen

Speak the Gospel

How transformation happens

Make every effort

Lack of Exercise

Doing and Sanctification

How obedience to Christ brings freedom

GOD’S MISSION; THIS CULTURE

POINTING OUR CULTURE TO THE ONE TRUE ANSWER

[1] Lloyd-Jones, Martyn, D. Spiritual Depression: Its causes and its cures. 1965.

Relate

Relationship with God

[1] Tony Reinke, “Six Wrong Reasons to Check Your Phone in the Morning: And a Better Way Forward,” Desiring God, June 6, 2015, http://www.desiringgod.org/articles /six-wrong-reasons-to-check-your-phone-in-the-morning.

[2] Dave Kraft, Leaders Who Last (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 95–96.

[3] Cited in James C. Hunter, The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle (New York: Crown Business, 2004), 141.

Jesus and the Straitjacket

Gospel-Informed Generosity

An Invitation to Gospel-Centered Generosity

Ask Your High Priest for Help

3 Ways Jesus’s Priestly Work Destroys Soul-Fatigue

– Jesus prays for you.

– Jesus “gets” you.

– Jesus helps you.

Run to Jesus

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