Thursday, December 31, 2009

In with the New, Keeping the Old

As we scroll down to the last day of the decade, two themes continue their prominence in my life- the love of God & the Word of God. At the end of 1991, the worst year of my life, I came to a point of utter personal devastation. Or as Proverbs 5:14 puts it, "to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly." I had prayed a conversion prayer twenty years before, joined the Christian community & agreed with basic orthodox Christian doctrine. I heard a good sermon every week & went bible studies regularly. But I lived the Christian life the way i thought it should be lived. I learned the externals and successfully mimicked "Christian" behavior. I and the others around me thought I was a genuine believer.
When I finally crashed and burned- thank you for your mercy, Lord- God showed me two themes. He loved me personally, which I had never really believed, and He wanted me to do what His Word said, rather than just listen to others teach it. He led me through a prolonged season of confession and repentance. I quickly saw that I couldn't do what it said, because I didn't really know what it said- despite all those sermons and bible studies. He gave me a voracious hunger for His Word because I finally saw the Bible as a letter of love to me in which God wanted to reveal who He is, and His interaction with humanity.
It grieves me to observe, as I travel through the Body of Christ in America, that so many do not seem to have a relationship of love with Jesus, or do not dig into His Word, or both. As we begin the new decade I pray that everyone who has occasion to read this blog will receive the love of God in a deep, profound way, and will allow the Holy Spirit to minister the Word of God to you.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Reason for the Season

Drove from East Bay to Half Moon Bay, CA on the Pacific Coast & then south a little to San Gregorio State Beach, where I spent most of the day. Alternated between walks along the beach, reading in the car & sitting observing the waves come in. The latter were quite majestic, reminding me of some verses in Psalm 93. "The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty. (v.1a) Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty. (v.4)"
God asked me the following question recently. Was He enough for me? Could I find fulfillment, spiritual nourishment, relationship etc. in Him or did I think I needed something else. I respond that if I can't have a fulfilling relationship with the One who has infinite love, compassion, patience etc. for me, then i won't have it with a fallible human. I believe He yearns to have deep personal relationship with me, and you. So I don't feel badly about spending 12/25/09 with Him alone. Instead I thank Him for the privilege and joy.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Current Thoughts

A good friend and brother in Christ asked me the other day how he could know if he had genuinely forgiven people who had hurt him. I believe that if we can recall the incident or the individual without it producing anger, depression etc. then we have forgiven. Pray for God to destroy the ability of those memories to cause further harm.

Healing is another subject that has my attention. Many Christians believe that God no longer heals (miraculously) in the way that Jesus and the apostles did, so for them there is no issue. Many others will pray, but their prime reliance is on modern medicine. Typically they don't really expect healing. A few who claim to have a gift of healing prostitute it for money. Others, like myself, believe that God can and does heal but have prayed constantly for people with little results. Yet I continue to hear reports from other countries, and occasionally in this country of healing. Perhaps people receive healing, but for whatever reason, don't say anything about it. If this is the case I encourage you to say something. I am asking God for insight.

My friend Rob & his wife have an amazing ministry to outlaw bikers and are seeing genuine fruit. He told me a testimony of a former international vice president of a gang who could call and in an hour or two have twenty guys come willing to shoot holes in people yet didn't have a single friend. Rob became that friend, built trust and relationship, and was instrumental in the man's conversion to Christ. I now have the privilege of responding to his earnest Scriptural questions. This is only one of many testimonies that Rob has shared.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Joy in Christ

Our brother Doug wrote to encourage me to remind the readers of this blog of the joy we have in Christ. I don't often think about this. A different brother Doug prayed for me to receive the joy of Christ many times. As I consider all that Christ has done for me, and the wonderful truth that as His follower, I am in Him, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22ff) does well up in me. I'm not the most expressive person but I have a divinely originated contentment.
Jesus says, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15:9-11 ESV) Wow! What exhilaration in those three verses. Jesus loves us as deeply as the Father loves Him. If we keep his commandments we'll abide in His love. (For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3)Then His joy will be in us & ours will be full. Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. (Heb. 12:2) I believe that joy is us- His bride.

Currently I have the privilege of ministering to some precious saints in Northern CA. I anticipate remaining here until the end of February.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Trust

As I continue walking with Christ I find that I understand less and need to trust Him more. He gives me sufficient grace for each day even as I don't know what the future holds. I thank Him for the opportunity to give something of what He has given to me. Currently I provide teaching for some precious saints on Tuesday nights and interact with others- in person, by phone or e-mail- during the week. Tomorrow I have the privilege of visiting a group of believers in Sacramento in the morning before returning to gather with another group in San Francisco in the evening.
Returning to the theme of trust, i know several believers who are struggling with very serious issues in their lives (health or otherwise). As I reflect on the hardships I have encountered in my own life, the Holy Spirit reminds me that trusting God was the key. Things may not have always worked out in the way that I wished, but He used it to make me more like Christ- more reflective of His love, compassion, truth etc. Trust is the foundation of any good relationship, whether with God, a spouse, a relative or a friend. "I will put my trust in him." (Hebrews 2:13)

Monday, December 7, 2009

Consumers or Participants?

Received a call this week from a good friend and brother in Christ concerned about the lack of participation in the house church he has started. He wondered whether I observed this in my travels. I said quite often. Did I have any thoughts? I reproduce my response below.
1. Are all of the people who attend your group, or any church, genuine believers in Christ? It is possible to mimic the external behavior of others and to say the right things. One can interact with the Christian community, listen to solid Biblical messages etc. & not know God. I did it for years. Think of 2 Corinthians 13:5 in this regard. "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith..."
2. If one does have a personal relationship with Christ, are they cultivating it? Think about the meaningful relationships that you have with other people. Don't they require time and effort and a desire to get together?
3. Teaching on the subject with the hope of changing the perspective that many of us have grown up in the faith with- a passive receiving of the gifts of a few people rather than the NT emphasis of encouraging one another.
A. Hebrews 10:24-25
B. 1 Corinthians 14:26
C. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
D. Hebrews 3:13
The above verses are a subset of at least fifty "one another" verses in the NT that exhort us to love one another, instruct one another, encourage one another etc.

I had the privilege of sharing this with some brethren last night. In recent days I have also written a short story, applied to join two writer's groups (with no response), gone last Saturday to hand out food to homeless people in Oakland, and corresponded or spoken to a number of people. God remains faithful & His love for me personal and intense. I'm also reading a commentary by a brother named David Pawson, who uses the macro/summary of themes approach instead of the micro/verse by verse method.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Approaching the Bible

Last night i had the privilege of teaching a group of precious saints from the Word of God. As a foundation prior to getting into my main topic, I listed some personal principles that I use when getting into the Bible- teaching, reading, studying etc. May they prove of benefit for you also
1. The Bible is the Word of God- inspired, inerrant (in the original manuscripts) and authoritative in the lives of followers of Christ
2. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth (dual authorship) John 16:13 cf. 17:17
3. Themes and Patterns- If something is said once in the Bible I assume it is there for a reason, even if I don't know what the reason is. If something is said over and over,I believe we should take special note of it. This is one of the reasons why I advocate reading from Matthew to Revelation, or Genesis to Revelation.
4. There is an Old Covenant and a New Covenant, which is part of a larger theme of progressive revelation. I believe that we are in the New Covenant, and I see increasing importance in that.
5. Commands: Jesus associates our love for Him with obeying His commands. (John 14:15,21,23 i John 2:5) The greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God... Mark 12:30
6. Humility- I don't know everything
7. Seek Counsel- Peter tells us that the Scripture is not of private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20) Seek out what godly people teach and believe.
8. Be teachable/ you can glean something from anyone in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. (2 Timothy 2:7)
9. Trust is the foundation of any good relationship but the Bereans were commended for searching out the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11, 2 Timothy 2:15)
10. Over-Analyzing We live in an age of scientific precision. We have had centuries of scholars subjecting the Bible to practically microscopic analysis. I wonder whether the original human authors ever anticipated this type of scrutiny. Do we miss the forest for a centimeter's worth of bark on one tree?
11. Eisegesis- Bringing our own ideas into the text and looking for support rather than going to the Bible to see what it teaches. Very difficult to avoid but worth the effort.