Growing 4 Life

A Deadly Serpent Among Us

Leave a Comment / April 7, 2011 April 7, 2011

There is a sin that has been accepted by generations of Christians. We rarely hear sermons on it. We rarely read books or articles on this topic. And yet…

It has destroyed countless churches. Families have fallen prey to its merciless grasp by the thousands. It is has ripped apart friendships. It has influenced school boards. It has shaped government in a big way. But it has also affected small children. This serpent slithers its way through most of our lives, rearing its head at any given moment.

It reared its ugly head in Bible times, in the Middle Ages, and during the Civil War. In fact, it has existed in many different forms throughout all time.

What is this sin? Pride. Pride has invaded, in one form or another, every relationship and every institution. Think for a moment. The last time you had an argument…what was it about? Or the last time you grew stonily silent and angry…what was it about? So often we are so full of ourselves. We are so convinced that we are right. We are so determined to get our own way. And when we realize, oftentimes later, that we have messed up, do we humble ourselves and apologize?

Why is apologizing so hard? It takes a lot of courage for a person to admit they were wrong. It takes a lot of humility. Humility can be rather elusive, can’t it? It is so valuable in a Christian’s life and yet so few of us have genuine humility. Oh, there is lots of fake humility going on…”You did great at such and such”….”Awww, shucks, no I didn’t”. But that is not humility.

So what does humble mean, anyway? It means “not proud, not arrogant; modest” according to dictionary.com. And pride? Pride means “a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.”

Humility requires thinking of the other person at the expense…yes, EXPENSE, of ourselves. Humility costs a lot. It may mean we are tramped upon. It may mean we are taken advantage of. It may mean we need to forego our own advancement and our personal “rights”. We cannot even come to the cross without humility. Unless we realize just how sinful we are…how full of self…how depraved…we cannot begin to even comprehend what the Savior did for us on the cross.

As I am writing, I can think of dozens of examples of situations that could have been solved except for pride. They were not issues of biblical doctrine. People just couldn’t get along. Husbands or wives who just could not admit that they were wrong and take steps to fix the issue, but instead decided to part ways. Church leaders who held themselves aloft and would not admit to wrongdoing chose instead to split their churches into pieces. Business owners who continue to claim they handled things well…even as their companies are in bankruptcy.

But, let’s bring it a little closer to home. When I think of the last few times I have found myself in a disagreement with someone, I know that most times it was stupid. Yes, I admit it. It was stupid. I was standing up for something because of my stupid pride. It didn’t even matter. And for the handful of times that it did matter…that it was truly important to express my viewpoint…well, how I went about it was prideful.

I think pride has so invaded our daily lives, that we give it little thought. In fact, I think in our culture, we often condone it. We hear that we should stand up for “our rights”. We hear that we need to “love ourselves” and increase our “self-esteem”. But the Bible tells me we already love ourselves (Luke 10:27). We are commanded to love our neighbor like we already love ourself.

I fear I have not done this topic the justice it deserves. I fear that churches and families around me will continue to fall, unless we…one by one…kill this serpent within our own homes and churches. It needs to start with us.

In conclusion, I leave you with a list of verses on this topic:

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.

Proverbs 13:10 By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.

James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “ God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Psalm 25:9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

Matthew 23:12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

Psalm 147:6 The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.

Psalm 18:27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty look.

Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “ God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Detour Tutorial

Leave a Comment / April 4, 2011 April 4, 2011

Detours. They are annoying in any place…but they are especially annoying when it affects EVERY trip you make to town. Our town is in the process of a major change on a major road. This leads to a detour on the road that we take to town often. It means there are 5 more minutes added to our trip. We are told it will take several weeks, even months!? With this constant road detour, my thoughts have turned to some of life’s detours. They are really not so different in principle. Here are a few thoughts I had–

1. Attitude is key. When the person in front of me decides to go under the speed limit (which happens more often than not) on the back country road detour, it increases from a 5 minute detour to a 7 minute detour. So what is 2 minutes, you say? Well, when you put it like that…I guess it isn’t a big deal. But when I am running late…or have a million things to do…well, it just adds up to frustration…that is…if I allow it to. I have realized that I have a choice to make about my attitude. And there is one very simple thing I can do to help my attitude: Give myself extra time. And so it is the same with life, isn’t it? When I am faced with a detour in life…something is not going quite how I planned and God has me on an unfamiliar road…my attitude will make all the difference. And that attitude can be helped by a very simple act: submitting to God’s will for my life. Instead of ranting and raving and becoming depressed and angry, I need to submit with joy. Oh, so simple, but so incredibly hard to do.

2. Think outside the box. There is another option to get to town. A second main road that takes us there. But on the way back home, there is a light where I need to turn left to get home. A couple of years ago they made some changes to the road that has increased the traffic considerably at that light. But they did not adjust the light accordingly. That means that there is usually a very, very long wait to make that left turn. The wait has increased even more as the traffic has increased due to the detour. But, there is another way! We are able to wind our way through a couple of local developments and it does save several minutes, especially depending on the time of day. So, I was thinking about this and realized that this, too, sometimes happens in life. Sometimes God puts us on a detour. And then we feel like we have to wait…and wait. But sometimes there is another way to solve a problem. Sometimes there is a back road to lead us to a solution. Now, of course, we cannot set out on that road without prayer and meditation on scripture. If you reach a dead end in a car, you just turn around and then check your smart phone or GPS to help you get out of your mess. Not quite so in real life. But sometimes there is another way. Sometimes God will show us a way out or a solution that we never even dreamed of. Sometimes we need to take a risk. And sometimes He will tell us we just need to wait. Of course, the key is waiting on Him to show you the direction to go.

3. Sometimes we just need to patiently wait. For several weeks now, the road crew that is supposed to be working has not been working. The big machines just sit there, while the whole south side of town is inconvenienced in their daily lives. I don’t know if it has to do with weather or what, but the road is still in place and we could be using it. But we can’t. Sometimes in life this happens, too. We feel like we are just waiting, but nothing is happening. Nothing is changing. We are taking this detour for nothing. But, unlike the road work I am watching and can see with my eyes, sometimes God works in ways we can’t see. Sometimes things–good things– happen that we will never find out about until we get to heaven. We need to trust and keep doing what we know is right to do.

4. Turn around immediately. When we leave church we always turn right out of the parking lot to go home. But with this detour, we need to turn left. We are having a difficult time remembering to turn left when we leave the parking lot and often end up having to turn around. If we continued going, we would eventually get home, but it would take an awful lot longer. Sometimes, life is like that, isn’t it? We are convicted of a sin in our life, but life happens, and at the end of the day, we realize that once again we have succumbed to that sin. We need to turn around and go the right way. We should turn around right away. Because if we don’t, we will need to take the very long (and often painful) road back home. And sometimes, the sin may so ensnare us, that we never make it back home at all.

5. Sometimes the detour is necessary to solve a problem. It is a temporary inconvenience to a permanent solution. And so it is sometimes in our lives. An infected wound needs to be painfully opened and dealt with before it can heal. And so it is with our lives. Sometimes we need to be painfully dealt with or inconvenienced or are told to wait…because we need to grow or heal in a certain area. Sometimes we figure it all out…often we don’t.

6. Maybe the detour is not about me. Obviously, this road detour is NOT about me…or any individual. It is for the greater good of the community overall. Perhaps some of the detours in our life are about others, as well. We are taking them because of something in someone else’s life. And it would be quite biblical to say that ALL detours allowed in our lives are to be used to glorify God. Sometimes, when we turn the focus on ourselves instead of on God, we wallow in our despair and endless complaints instead of turning our hearts toward the One who made us and has given us breath. We need to remember that all that God allows in our life comes from Him. And, I guess we have come full circle from point one and I am repeating myself! But it is a worthy point to repeat. We have to submit to God’s will. Whatever it may be. And His will is about bringing glory to His name and reaching others for Him. It is not about me. Let’s get our focus off of ourselves today and place it where it belongs.

Job 23:10 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Psalms 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

The Inadequacy of “Instant Christianity”

Leave a Comment / March 31, 2011 March 31, 2011

Once again I am going to share with you from one of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer. I have found few authors more challenging than A.W. Tozer. Unfortunately, most of the things he wrote are not being read by Christians anymore. It seems appropriate to bring some of his wisdom to you through this blog–

It is hardly a matter of wonder that the country that gave the world instant tea and instant coffee should be the one to give it instant Christianity. If these two beverages were not actually invented in the United States, it was certainly here that they received the advertising impetus that has made them known to most of the civilized world. And it cannot be denied that it was American Fundamentalism that brought instant Christianity to the gospel churches.

Ignoring for the moment Romanism, and Liberalism in its various disguises, and focusing our attention upon the great body of evangelical believers, we see at once how deeply the religion of Christ has suffered in the house of its friends. The American genius for getting things done quickly and easily with little concern for quality or permanence has bred a virus that has infected the whole evangelical church in the United States and, through our literature, our evangelists and our missionaries, has spread all over the world.

Instant Christianity came in with the machine age. Men invented machines for two purposes. They wanted to get important work done more quickly and easily than they could do it by hand, and they wanted to get the work over with so they could give their time to pursuits more to their liking, such as loafing or enjoying the pleasures of the world. Instant Christianity now serves the same purposes in religion. It disposes of the past, guarantees the future and sets the Christian free to follow the more refined lusts of the flesh in all good conscience and with a minimum of restraint.

By “instant Christianity” I mean the kind found almost everywhere in gospel circles and which is born of the notion that we may discharge our total obligation to our own souls by one act of faith, or at most by two, and be relieved thereafter of all anxiety about our spiritual condition that we may discharge our total obligation to our own and we are permitted to infer from this that there is no reason to seek to be saints by character. An automatic, once-for-all quality is present here that is completely out of mode with the faith of the New Testament.

In this error, as in most others, there lies a certain amount of truth imperfectly understood. It is true that conversion to Christ may be and often is sudden. Where the burden of sin has been heavy the sense of forgiveness is usually clear and joyful. The delight experienced in forgiveness is equal to the degree of moral repugnance left in repentance. The true Christian has met God. He knows he has eternal life and he is likely to know where and when he received it. And those also who have been filled with the Holy Spirit subsequent to their regeneration have a clear-cut experience of being filled. The Spirit is self-announcing, and the renewed heart has no difficulty identifying His presence as He floods in over the soul.

But the trouble is that we tend to put our trust in our experiences and as a consequence misread the entire New Testament. We are constantly being exhorted to make the decision, to settle the matter now, to get the whole thing taken care of at once—and those who exhort us are right in doing so. There are decisions that can be and should be made once and for all. There are personal matters that can be settled instantaneously by a determined act of the will in response to Bible-grounded faith. No one would want to deny this; certainly not I.

The question before us is, Just how much can be accomplished in that one act of faith? How much yet remains to be done and how far can a single decision take us?

Instant Christianity tends to make the faith act terminal and so smothers the desire for spiritual advance. It fails to understand the true nature of the Christian life, which is not static but dynamic and expanding. It overlooks the fact that a new Christian is a living organism as certainly as a new baby is, and must have nourishment and exercise to assure normal growth. It does not consider that the act of faith in Christ sets up a personal relationship between two intelligent moral beings, God and the reconciled man, and no single encounter between God and a creature made in His image could ever be sufficient to establish an intimate friendship between them.

By trying to pack all of salvation into one experience, or two, the advocates of instant Christianity flaunt the law of development which runs through all nature. They ignore the sanctifying effects of suffering, cross carrying and practical obedience. They pass by the need for spiritual training, the necessity of forming right religious habits and the need to wrestle against the world, the devil and the flesh.

Undue preoccupation with the initial act of believing has created in some a psychology of contentment, or at least of non-expectation. To many it has imparted a mood of disappointment with the Christian faith. God seems too far away, the world is too near, and the flesh too powerful to resist. Others are glad to accept the assurance of automatic blessedness. It relieves them of the need to watch and fight and pray, and sees them free to enjoy this world while waiting for the next.

Instant Christianity is twentieth-century orthodoxy. I wonder whether the man who wrote Philippians 3:7-16 would recognize it as the faith for which he finally died. I am afraid he would not.

—Excerpt from That Incredible Christian

Tortured for Christ

Leave a Comment / March 28, 2011 March 28, 2011

**A group of armed Muslims opened fire on Christians at an open-air prayer meeting in Pakistan this week, killing two men.

**Anti-Christian violence has increased in northern Nigeria since January of this year, when 200 armed Fulani youths attacked churches and Christian homes. Sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria began in 2001 with a large-scale riot in the city of Kaduna.

**In Uzbekistan, six Christians leading a service at a nursing home on March 13 were detained by police and charged with resisting police orders and violating procedures for conducting a meeting.

**The battle over Bibles continues in Malaysia. In January 2011, port authorities confiscated 30,000 Bibles that a branch of Gideons International had ordered.

This is a sampling of some of the news stories regarding persecution against Christians going on right now. I read another story this morning of an Egyptian Christian persecuted for helping Muslims who have converted to Christianity by hanging him upside down naked and beating him severely.

This is not hundreds of years ago. This is right now. In this world we live in. Sometimes I feel we are so sheltered in our little American world. Sure, we take some slander or we may even take some damage to our reputation if we stand for Christ. There is a cost. But the cost is minimal, if you think about many other parts of the world.

Thinking on this leads me down several different trails-

First, is my faith sure and certain, so that I will stand strong, if (some would say “when”) that day comes?

Second, am I praying for my Christians brothers and sisters who are being tortured for Christ? They are part of our heavenly family. They need our prayers!

Third, am I living with a grateful heart for the freedoms I have? For the freedom from hunger? For the freedom to worship in church without interruption from the government? For the freedom to own a Bible?

And fourth, I can’t help but think that many of the things that upset all of us…people things…circumstance things…job things…just wouldn’t be as big of an issue if we knew we might lose our life the next day. Perspective is such a big deal, isn’t it?? What am I upset or disturbed about that would really matter if I may be imprisoned tomorrow for my faith? What argument or debate (and there are some, but not as many as we think) is worth destroying a relationship with a fellow brother, if we both may be killed tomorrow?

We are free. And these questions do not haunt us the way they haunt our fellow believers. And I thank God for that. Let’s live with grateful hearts. Let’s make sure it is God’s opinions directly from His Word that we take a stand for…not our own. And let’s pray that God would give us a godly perspective on the trials and problems we face.

The above examples are from website persecution.com. They also have a sister website, prisoneralert.com, which focuses on Christians who are imprisoned for their faith. Both are a great place to go if you would like to read more about this topic.

Switching Boxes

Leave a Comment / March 24, 2011 March 24, 2011

Today is the day I switch boxes. Okay, let me explain. Think about the last survey you filled out. You know…the ones where they ask for an age range. I don’t really know any of them except for the one that says (35-44). That has been MY box to check for 9 years. Today I can no longer check that box.

I know it is inconsequential in the course of life. I do know that. But it turns my thoughts toward the brevity of life. Our days are numbered. James 4:14 says whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

As we grow older there are some questions most of us ask. Things like: Am I accomplishing anything of true value with my days? How important is physical beauty, anyway? Am I a wiser person today than I was 25 years ago?

I am trying to decide how transparent I should be. Okay, this is what I will say. These questions, along with watching my children grow up so quickly, have weighed heavily on me at times. Throw the hormonal issues in there (I read that the 40s can be compared to adolescence in how much the body is changing)…and, well, there have been some dark days. The only reason I share this is because I truly wish someone would have told me how emotionally charged the 40s would be. And just how much life would change. How much my body would change. And perhaps I am the only one who feels like this. I really don’t know.

I do know, however, that when my focus is on what isn’t going right in my life, what is changing in my life….that is when the dark moments come. When I turn my focus in the direction of others I don’t have time to think about these things. It is all a growing and learning process. But, according to my mom, I am half-way through it today! She tells me the 50s are a lot better! I hope so, but I am in no hurry to find out…

Once, very long ago, I was walking through a mall. A plaque caught my eye. I don’t buy a lot of plaques, but I did buy this one. It said “Don’t regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.” It has helped me keep perspective for many years about this growing older thing. It is a privilege to be alive…and, I, for one, am grateful for that privilege.

On Entertainment

Leave a Comment / March 21, 2011 March 21, 2011

I can take no credit for what is written below. It was written by A.W. Tozer somewhere in the mid-1900s. It is hard to believe that, even then, entertainment was taking an inappropriate priority in the lives of believers. This certainly challenged me. I hope it will do the same for you.

The Great God Entertainment

A German philosopher many years ago said something to the effect that the more a man has in his own heart the less he will require from the outside; excessive need for support from without is proof of the bankruptcy of the inner man.

If this is true (and I believe it is), then the present inordinate attachment to every form of entertainment is evidence that the inner life of modern man is in serious decline. The average man has no central core of moral assurance, no spring within his own breast, no inner strength to place him above the need for repeated psychological shots to give him the courage to go on living. He has become a parasite on the world, drawing his life from his environment, unable to live a day apart from the stimulation which society affords him.

Schleiermacher held that the feeling of dependence lies at the root of all religious worship, and that however high the spiritual life might rise it must always begin with a deep sense of a great need which only God could satisfy. If this sense of need and a feeling of dependence are at the root of natural religion it is not hard to see why the great god Entertainment is so ardently worshiped by so many. For there are millions who cannot live without amusement; life without some form of entertainment for them is simply intolerable; they look forward to the blessed relief afforded by professional entertainers and other forms of psychological narcotics as a dope addict looks to his daily shot of heroin. Without them they could not summon courage to face existence.

No one with common human feeling will object to the simple pleasures of life, nor to such harmless forms of entertainment as may help to relax the nerves and refresh the mind exhausted by toil. Such things if used with discretion may be a blessing along the way. That is one thing. The all-out devotion to entertainment as a major activity for which and by which men live is definitely something else again.

The abuse of a harmless thing is the essence of sin. The growth of the amusement phase of human life to such fantastic proportions is a portent, a threat to the souls of modern men. It has been built into a multimillion dollar racket with greater power over human minds and human character than any other educational influence on earth. And the ominous thing is that its power is almost exclusively evil, rotting the inner life, crowding out the long eternal thoughts which would fill the souls of men if they were but worthy to entertain them. And the whole thing has grown into a veritable religion which holds its devotees with a strange fascination, and a religion, incidentally, against which it is now dangerous to speak.

For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was—a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability. For this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers. So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God. Many churches these days have become little more than poor theatres where fifth-rate “producers” peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it.

The great god Entertainment amuses his devotees mainly by telling them stories. The love of stories, which is a characteristic of childhood, has taken fast hold of the minds of the retarded saints of our day, so much so that not a few persons manage to make a comfortable living by spinning yarns and serving them up in various disguises to church people. What is natural and beautiful in a child may be shocking when it persists into adulthood, and more so when it appears in the sanctuary and seeks to pass for true religion.

Is it not a strange thing and a wonder that, with the shadow of atomic destruction hanging over the world and with the coming of Christ drawing near, the professed followers of the Lord should be giving themselves up to religious amusements? That in an hour when mature saints are so desperately needed vast numbers of believers should revert to spiritual childhood and clamor for religious toys?
—Best of A. W. Tozer, The

Growing Up

Leave a Comment / March 17, 2011 October 1, 2014

My son wrote an essay for an English assignment the other day. The topic was something like this: “something you have done for a long time and how it has changed as you have grown up”. He picked the topic of a trade show that our family business participates in. In the essay, he shared how, when he was a little boy, he would stand in his company shirt and try to look official, desperately hoping that someone would take him seriously by asking him a question about our company. One day, someone did ask him a question– but he didn’t know the answer. He found out the answer and made sure to know it for the next time.

Fast forward to this year’s show. Not only did he get asked lots of questions, but he knew most of the answers, too. You see, in the natural progression of growing up, he has learned about our company and about the trade. He has become a young man who can talk with others about our company and even our industry quite knowledgeably.

Let’s think about that in light of our Christian walk. How many of us are growing up in our knowledge of God’s Word? How many of us still squirm when we are approached by someone who has a specific problem or question, struggling to remember the location of the verse or even which book of the Bible addresses the question? Or we have a great chance to witness, but we are shy because we are scared we won’t know what to say. When it comes right down to it, we don’t know the Bible. We say we believe it, but we are like that little boy in the company shirt, standing around looking official, but not really knowing our stuff. We may look like grown-ups but we are little children spiritually.

We blame our memories. We blame our lack of time and busy lifestyles. We blame lots of things. But maybe we need to stop worrying about why and just do something about it.

As I write this, I am condemning myself. I have been a Christian, by the incredible grace of God, for a very long time. My knowledge of God’s Word is not in accordance with how long I have been a Christian. I have recently been convicted of this and have made some changes in my Bible study time.

I want to know God’s Word. I want to be able to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” (see verse below). Because let’s face it–God blesses us by using us, but he can’t use us if we aren’t ready to be used. We need to take our focus off of our own agendas and our own busy lives and make some room in our lives to learn God’s Word. We need to stop relying on the little bits of knowledge we may have learned years ago–in Bible school or Bible quizzing or church–and start digging into the word, perhaps even memorizing some passages.

We need to start growing up in the Lord.

1 Peter 3:15
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

The surgeon’s instrument

1 Comment / March 14, 2011 March 14, 2011

The nurse held out her hand with the surgical instrument. The surgeon reached out and grabbed it without even looking at it. The patient before him was a young man. A young man in desperate need of a new kidney. But just as the surgeon was about to get started, he glanced at the tool in his hand. It was filthy. Dried blood clung to its surface. There was even a little rust on the one side. He would not be using this instrument. Instead of healing this young man, this instrument would likely cause infection, making his immune-compromised system fight a fight it was unable to fight.

Alistair Begg used this analogy yesterday in a very challenging sermon. The topic was how to prepare ourselves to tell the world about Jesus. And his first main point was this: We need to be a clean instrument. Just as a surgeon would desire sterilized instruments to perform surgery, so God would desire clean instruments to share His message.

What a challenge! Am I clean? How does the world view me?

When people think of me do they think of someone who stands boldly for Jesus? Or do they think of me as someone who will compromise my standards to be popular? Is it obvious I am a believer? Or does the conversation about me when I am not there include sentences like: “I think she is saved…I know she goes to church…She says she believes…she was ‘saved’ at camp when she was 10, but…”

Saying we are believers and acting like it are very different things. And in order to truly be useful to our Heavenly Father we need to live what we say. We need to be different. We need to continually endeavor to be like Jesus. In how we love. In how we spend our time. In standing up for the Truth.

Let’s face it…it is not our words that prove we are a clean vessel, it is our actions. Words without actions lead to a confused and angry world. All of these people say they believe Jesus died for them…but they are not living differently than me. They go to church on Sunday, but they cheat on their taxes on Monday, listen to rap music filled with filth on Tuesday, wear clothing that does not leave much to the imagination on Wednesday, lie to get their own way on Thursday…you get the idea? It leads to confusion and anger because we are saying we believe God and the Bible…but we are not living like it. The worlds asks…why does it matter? Why would I need Jesus? It is a good question. One that should never have to be asked.

I pray that today we would consider what we look like to a lost world. I pray we would reflect on how effective we can be for Jesus in our current lifestyle. I pray that we would be salt and light in a world that needs Jesus desperately (Matthew 5:13-14).

Are You Reading Your Veggies?

Leave a Comment / March 10, 2011 January 12, 2016

We know– and tell our children– that a diet made up of only desserts and candy will lead to an unhealthy body. In fact, in our current culture this has become all-important. We have recognized the need to fuel our bodies with good-for-you things like meat, vegetables and fruits, and healthy carbohydrates. There is little discussion or debate about this.

I would like to suggest that perhaps it is the same way with what we read. If you are not a reader, then I challenge you to think about what you listen to or watch and apply the same principle.

When I was fresh out of college and a young mom, a friend of mine gave me her very negative opinion about the Christian fiction that was so popular (and still continues to be popular). I was kind of offended at the time. When I had the time to read, that was what I read. I filled my mind with stories of lovely damsels in distress finding the perfect guy. But after that conversation, I found myself honestly looking at my reading habits.

Gradually, over many years time, I changed my diet from all fiction to hardly any at all. As this has evolved over the years, I have found that my desire for these types of books has dramatically decreased, as well. Have you ever talked to a person who has changed their eating habits? Several people have told me that they don’t even really desire to eat a lot of candy and desserts anymore (I am still working on that one!). I am told that their appetite for the junk food their body craved dramatically decreased when they overhauled their diet.

I believe the same thing applies to what we read.

I do enjoy an occasional Christian fiction work. There are some great authors out there who use the medium of fiction to not only tell a beautiful story, but to also teach us a lesson or cause us to think (and quite honestly, I do not put these authors in the same category as the authors of the light, fluffy stuff). However, if we are spending hours reading the typical romantic, unrealistic fluff, then we are not only wasting our time but we are developing expectations about life that aren’t real. Oftentimes, we are using it as an escape from the real world. I know this, because I did this. And, just like eating candy, reading like this is fine–in moderation. But, if this is what we are filling our mind with, then it will take up the appetite that should be used for better things–the good-for-us “mind food” that will keep us growing and challenged both spiritually and intellectually.

If you can relate to what I am saying then I would like to challenge you to read (or listen to or watch) more vegetables than you do candy. Read some biblical, sound books that will help you grow in your walk with the Lord. Read some biographies of great men and women. See how the Lord has worked in the lives of real men and women to change the world. My personal favorites are missionary biographies. How my short-sighted view on how God works has been deeply challenged by reading about the lives of believers who took a giant leap out of their comfort zone! Or pick up a good classic and stretch your mind with the vocabulary and the complexities of the story. And soon you will find that you, too, have changed your mind’s appetite for candy along with stretching your mind and growing spiritually.

Dave Ramsey says that in 5 years you will be the same person except for the people you meet and the books you read. How are the books you are reading changing you?

P.S. If you’d like a few suggestions of books to get you started, you can check out some of my favorite books here.

I don’t care what you think.

Leave a Comment / March 7, 2011 March 7, 2011

Yes, you read that correctly. Only it’s not true. I sort of wish it was true. But, even though I may state it emphatically at times…I actually DO care what you think.

I think we all care to some extent. Some of us more than others. Some of us are completely driven by what our parents…or spouse…or children…or friends THINK about us. We are concerned that they like us. We want them to think we are “relevant”, “cool”, or at the very least “intelligent”. And this is all fine and good. But not if it comes at the expense of doing the right thing according to scripture.

Caring about what people think is actually what makes sharing our faith and standing for truth most difficult. At least for me. It is easier to just not say anything. Right? Anyone agree with me? I find it so easy to focus on the present (“they will think I am too radical”; “they will think I am not cool”; “they will think I am narrow-minded and intolerant”) instead of keeping my focus on the Truth as presented in God’s Word.

There are SO many out there trying to destroy the Gospel. Through outright lies in the world or through deceptions labeled as “Christian”. We have to keep going back to God’s Word. We have to KNOW it, STUDY it, and LIVE it. We need to proclaim, as Paul did in Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

Only then will we have the confidence to stand up for Christ. Only then can we be used by Him. If we are busy trying to fit in with the world, we will lose many opportunities. If we are busy trying to separate our physical selves from anything to do with the world, we won’t even have opportunities. But if, in contrast, we are busy living lives IN the world but are not OF the world, so that people see that we are DIFFERENT…if we show that we love God and not the things of the world…if we aren’t ashamed or afraid to talk to people about it…if we don’t care what people think…well, that is when we will be most effective for Jesus Christ.