Archive for September 2010

PRINCIPLE #2 - A Possible Date is a Possible Mate

Here we're seeking to answer the question: Why do we date? The answer is to find someone to marry. If you can't see yourself marrying a person there is no point (from a Christian perspective) to date them.

Sure there are many non-Christian and unbiblical reasons to date: promiscuity, casual fun, variety, etc. But each of these reasons fails when we consider the Bible's call for the Christian (1) to Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and (2) to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:37-40). Dating casually is not doing either.

It is not loving your neighbor (person you are dating) as yourself because ultimately casual dating is playing games with people's hearts. Whether it's for sex, fun, variety, or what have you, casual dating ultimately ends in disappointment for both parties in one of many numerous ways. You were created by God to desire intimate community with other human beings. When God said in Gen. 1:26, "Let us make man in our image," it included God's nature to be in intimate community - i.e. the Trinity. Do you hear that language in Gen. 1:26? "Let us create man in our image."

Whether you admit to it or not you have an innate, created, undeniable, un-supress-able desire to be in intimate community with other human beings - and the ultimate realization of that desire is marriage. Therefore when you tease your innate human nature with little hints of satisfaction (dating) and then take them away you disappoint yourself and also the person you were dating. You can't dangle a steak in front of a dog then take it away and convince yourself it was good for him. Casual dating hurts people and cannot be justified biblically in any way.

Examine the reasons you want to date. Are you taking into account the feelings of the other person or are you simply trying to satisfy your own selfish needs? If you're dating, could you honestly see yourself marrying the person you are with? Could you see them as a parent to your future children? If not why are you with them? The reason cannot be biblical. I challenge you to find one.

If you are not dating, but wish to, pray for God to help you find that person you will one day spend the rest of your life with. While dating casually may seem like fun from the outside it hurts people and disappoints hearts. You were created for much more. Be the image-bearer of God Scripture calls you to be by seeking to satisfy your innate longing for community in a biblical way.

to be continued...

Almost a year ago I taught through a series on how Christians should go about dating. This is a topic that I think gives many of us a lot of stress. For some it may be very easy, but for many people this can be extraordinarily difficult, awkward, frustrating, exasperating, and just plain confusing. While I can't give each of you a step-by-step guide on how to find that perfect someone, I can give some Biblical principles to follow as you date. So in light of this here is part one of a multi-part series on Christian Dating.

PRINCIPLE #1 - Give Your Heart to God First

Again let me stress, these are general working principles, not rules without exceptions. Nowhere in the Bible does it come out and say explicitly that God will never allow you to date until you've first figured out how to have Him as #1 in your life. However what is explicit and emphasized to the extreme in Scripture is the fact that the most important thing you can do with your heart (and your life) is to turn it over to God.

If you have not fully given your heart to Jesus Christ your viewpoint on the rest of life is going to be skewed. You will undoubtedly seek a certain amount of satisfaction in dating that another person cannot give you. You can't fill a God-sized whole in your heart with another human being.

It might sound off-topic, but it's most certainly not. The most important, most crucial, and most beneficial thing you can do for your dating life and future marriage is to give your life fully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. When you do this and you seek to learn to become the man/woman of God the Bible calls you to be you will learn how to date the way God intended it and you will learn how to be a husband/wife the way God intended it. I believe the lack of attention to this important principle is an extremely high contributing factor to the divorce rate in America.

If God created marriage, created males and females, created human beings (created everything!) then it would make sense that a deviation from his plan for life would produce unhealthy results. But some of you will say, "I've seen perfectly healthy marriages and dating relationships between two non-Christians!" My answer to this objection is no relationship is perfectly healthy. When you put a sinner together with another sinner it never equals perfection. You just don't see the imperfections.

With Christ as your foundation you will be able to acknowledge the depths of sin you came from and then be able to forgive another when they sin against you. You will have intrinsic motivation to serve that other person even when you don't feel like it. You will understand that the covenant of marriage mirrors God's covenant with his people and God doesn't flippantly divorce his people whenever he's not in love with them anymore. And you will understand that since marriage mirrors God's covenant in this way adultery is the ultimate slap in the face to God and your spouse because the mirror image of adultery is idolatry.

So if you're single and reading this my suggestion would be to make it your #1 goal to fall in love with God before you fall in love with someone else. This will allow you to treat that person the way God intended when they finally come along. If you're dating and reading this don't take this to mean you need to end your relationship (but you may!). Rather seek to give your heart to God and make sure your significant other is doing the same.

to be continued...

Satan continually works against marriages. And one thing within marriages that Satan works hard to try and prevent is a husband and his wife having devotional times with God TOGETHER.

I meet weekly for accountability with a friend named Michael. Michael is married, as am I, and we've recently been talking about how hard it is to sit down regularly with our wives and spend time in prayer and in reading Scripture. We feel something tugging on our hearts and minds trying to tell us... you can do it later, or there's something more fun you could be doing, or here is something you need to argue with your spouse about.

I firmly believe these are lies from Satan who is actively working to prevent married couples from having these devotional times together.

Michael and I often speak of the fact that we both feel because it is so hard and because our hearts are so often unwilling and because so many things try to distract us, this probably means it is something infinitely beneficial for our marriages that Satan wants desperately to stop.

Furthermore we both see, and have heard from other husbands, that once we actually sit down with our wives to have this time there are so many "innocent" things that keep our minds away from God and his Word. Sometimes it's something our pet is doing. Sometimes it's a conversation that seems to turn so quickly and easily into a confrontation. Sometimes it's just a thought about our day that distracts us from talking about the things of God in front of us.

As I said to Michael last night... it's never a Satan worshipper calling up for donations to the church of Satan. It's things that seem very "innocent" or "neutral." This is why I believe so strongly that it is indeed Satan himself.

Satan works very hard to prevent these precious times between married couples and once we actually sit down to do it, Satan then scrambles desperately to distract us.

Let me encourage and challenge all married couples to begin to pray against Satan in this area of your lives. Focus extra-hard on sitting down with your spouse to have these important devotional times together. HUSBANDS: be strong for your wives and stand firm to resist Satan when he tempts you both to skip these times or to get distracted.

I'll end with a story from a sermon that hit me especially hard the other day. Our preacher was reading the story of a flight attendant who walked up to a woman on a plane to serve her the in-flight meal. The woman refused the meal and said she was fasting. The flight attendant asked why she was fasting and the woman replied that she was with the Church of Satan and as a group they all fasted every Friday and prayed to Satan to destroy the marriages of Christian couples.

Don't let this strike fear in your heart. Let it increase your resolve to defeat Satan daily by the power of God's spirit within you.

When it comes to Christian books and sermons do you gravitate toward the newest, most talked about material by the most popular authors/preachers? One word of advice: DON'T.

I'll be the first to admit that I have suffered because of this in the past. When I first got into reading Christian books I would have taken the brand new, nicely covered copy of Crazy Love by Francis Chan off the shelf any day before some old, beat-up, 1980's-looking version of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity or A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God. Furthermore I still find myself sometimes desiring to listen to the new John Piper or Mark Driscoll book over those of local preachers and other "lesser-known" men. Simply put... we often judge books by their cover.

First let me say there are many popular and well-known preachers and writers that you would benefit from and should most-certainly read or listen to. I fully endorse the writings of Francis Chan or the sermons of Mark Driscoll. What I don't endorse is lifting them up on a pedestal above the pastor of your own church and comparing every sermon of his to theirs.

As much as I have been influenced by John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Jack Cottrell, they will never compare to life-changing, mentoring relationships I've received from men like Scott Davis, Larry Coffey, and Tommy Simpson (men you've probably never heard of). These "ordinary" men have changed my life and I refuse to compare them to the more famous writers/speakers or to assign a lesser importance to their ministries.

Jesus lifted up the prayer of a tax collector over that of a religious leader (Luke 18:9-14). He lifted up the offering of the poorest of women over that of the richest of men (Mark 12:41-44).

So learn from my mistakes and don't give more inherent value to a book or sermon simply because the author or preacher is well-known. Don't automatically refuse to read the writings of unknowns... they may very well become your favorites! Don't compare your pastor's sermons to the wealth of podcasts on iTunes. God has placed you where you are with your specific local influences for a very good reason. Invest your heart in learning as much from them as you possibly can. There is so much value worth digging for in this life that doesn't sparkle like treasure at first.

As the NCAA and NFL Football seasons kick off I think it's extremely important that we constantly hold two views in tension in regard to how much time we spend watching these sports.

First we should remember 1 Timothy 4:4 - "Everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving..." Football (and for me basketball) is a gift from God. It is not wrong to sit down on a Saturday afternoon and watch a football game instead of spending the entire afternoon on your knees in prayer while fasting. Don't feel guilty if you love to watch the Cincinnati Bengals or the UK Wildcats lose another important game :) Football is naturally enjoyable to most men because of the way God created us - with a drive for being our best and performing well, with an inherent understanding of battle, discipline, teamwork, and victory/defeat. So in light of 1 Corinthians 10:31 let me encourage you to watch some football to the glory of God!

However second we need to always keep football (and basketball for me) in its place. In the end it is just a sport. May I never stay up late to watch a game that would make me too tired to get up early the next morning and have a quiet time before work. May I never sacrifice fellowship with others who don't care about football (or basketball) for the sake of watching the game. May I never sacrifice quality time with my wife or children for the sake of watching the game. May I never come to the point to where I can't honestly say God is infinitely more important than football. The day after the Super Bowl my life is always exactly the same as it was the day before.

I believe one of the most prevalent forms of idol worship in 2010 America is sports. So many people spend more money, time, attention, thought, and energy on sports than on God. This is evidence of idol worship. As one of my favorite preachers likes to put it... we come to the temple (stadium) and lift our voices in worship (cheer) to our god (the team). We give our tithes and offerings (buying tickets and apparel) and even ensure that we don't love Father or Mother or Son or Daughter or Spouse more than our god (the team). Our time spent with our god (the team) is non-negotiable and no one can schedule anything (even bible study) during our quality time spent with this god (watching the game). Furthermore we make it our goal to ensure that our children follow in our ways and worship and love our god (the team).

While we need to enjoy sports to the glory of God let us always be extremely cautious because the idol of sports is held by many, many people in our country above the true God of the universe. This is a very real temptation for me and others I know.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God."

1 Corinthians 10:31

When you ask God for something do you think about why you're asking? Why do you want God to answer your prayer? If I'm honest, most of the time it's for selfish reasons... comfort, peace, encouragement, relief, joy, etc.

I'm a couple books away from finishing the Old Testament and this time through I've noticed yet another pattern that I hadn't seen before. When the men of God in the OT prayed they asked for things so that God's glory would be displayed in the world and his name revered.

Consider the following examples...

-Moses-

"O Lord," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'?" (Exodus 32:11)

-David-

"And now, Lord, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, 'The Lord Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel's God!'" (1 Chronicles 17:23-24)

For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. (Psalm 25:11)

For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life... (Psalm 143:11)

-Hezekiah-

"Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God." (Isaiah 37:20)

-Jeremiah-

"O Lord, we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers; we have indeed sinned against you. For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it." (Jeremiah 14:20-21)

These are but a few examples of the numerous times in the OT when the prophets, kings, and righteous men appealed to God's desire to glorify himself.

In response to this we should seek to pray in the same way. But first we must truly embrace the fact that God is out for his own glory and then seek to work constantly for it ourselves in light of 1 Corinthians 10:31. This is not a way to manipulate God into answering your prayers... if it's not his will it won't happen. What it should be however is an overflow of your genuine desire for God's glory to be spread throughout the earth.

Once you have this genuine desire in your heart begin to pray for things so that God's glory will increase in the world. For example I pray that God will bless my ministry for his own glory. I pray that he will allow me to post things on this blog that will help others for his own glory. I pray that he will save the lost for his own glory. And I pray that he will help me to love my wife for his own glory.

Ask yourself... are my prayers God-centered or self-centered?

Jesus' love is always our standard. He was God in the flesh and each example of his love shown to other men, women, and/or children in the gospels is a model for the way we should love our own neighbors. But the way Jesus loves does not always compute with the way we would think one should love someone else.

Consider the story of the rich young man who asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus tells the young man that he knows the commandments and proceeds to list a few of the 10 Commandments. The young man responds by saying, "All these I have kept since I was a boy."

While all three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) include the account, only Mark includes the next line:

"Jesus looked at him and loved him." (Mark 10:21)

Jesus then proceeds to command the young man to sell his possessions and come to follow Him. The young man then walks away sad, "because he had great wealth."

What strikes me about this unique insertion by Mark is that Jesus' expression of love toward this man is radically counter-intuitive to the wisdom of the world. The passage says Jesus loved the young man... but what does Jesus then proceed to do? Welcome him into the Kingdom? No. Encourage and reassure him? Not quite. Gently correct his false assumptions "in a loving way"? Hardly.

Jesus loves him by exposing the area of his life that he cannot give up to God. The man worshipped wealth and was unwilling to give up his money and possessions to follow Christ and the most loving thing Jesus could do for him was to strip him down and expose him for who he really was - not to others but to himself. Jesus allows the rich young man to see that in his current state he is not truly willing (as he foolishly tried to showcase) to do what it takes to follow Christ.

This is the confusing, counter-intuitive, radical love of Jesus - cutting right to the issue that truly matters: salvation. You can see it elsewhere: the woman at the well (John 4), Nicodemus (John 3). Jesus is concerned with a person's soul at the risk of others perceiving him as unloving. But true love cares for the other person, not the way I will be perceived.

So how does this practically apply to our lives? Three things I think we need to take away from this truth...

Allow the Word of God to reveal to you what areas in your life you might not be willing to give up for the sake of following Christ. Allow Christ to do to you what he did for the rich young man. He loves you too.
Sometimes loving others means pulling the roof off their heads and exposing their hypocrisy or sin.
Be willing to sacrifice your reputation for another person's salvation.

True love is not talking about the weather when you know the person you're speaking to is lost. True love is not reassuring someone they're a good person when repentance and faith in Christ is what they need. True love hurts sometimes. If someone has cancer and they need a deep surgery to remove the tumor and we give them a massage instead, that's not love! Be bold enough to love someone in the hard way of Jesus.

PRINCIPLE #5 - Embrace The Old Testament

Last night I was talking with a friend and we were both commenting on how our perception of God was not well-rounded until we finished reading the Old Testament for the first time. The OT often gets neglected for a few reasons...

Many of the worship practices in the OT are not meant to be practiced in the New Covenant
It's hard to understand
It can get repetitive - especially in the prophets or Kings & Chronicles
It's hard to apply some of its principles practically to life

Most people I talk to find it much easier to read Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and Proverbs than to read books like Leviticus, Numbers, 2 Chronicles, and Ezekiel. This is completely understandable. However there is so much rich theology and truth in the neglected books of the OT that we will miss if we simply refuse to read them. If this describes you don't be satisfied with it. Learn all you can through commentaries and conversations with those familiar with these "tougher" books so that you can get into them yourself and be blessed by a more full knowledge of God.

One of the most important truths about God that I learned from the OT is that he is a wrathful and vengeful God. In the NT we primarily get a picture of God's love for sinners and the forgiveness and grace offered to us through Jesus Christ. However that love/grace/forgiveness takes on a much deeper and more full meaning in light of God's holiness which manifests itself in wrath when sin is present. Because God is perfectly holy and just he must punish every sin. In fact his nature requires him to actively pursue those who rebel against him with his wrath. After reading the OT I had a much deeper appreciation for the cross because I saw God's holiness and his need to punish every sin and consequently my need for Jesus to take that wrath and punishment on himself so that I could escape it. This is the true beauty of the gospel and I didn't fully comprehend it until I got a sweeping picture of God's wrath in the OT.

Here are some tips if you're finding it tough to read through the OT:

Begin in Genesis
Take breaks where you read the New Testament for a day
Talk to someone regularly about what you're reading who understands it better than you
Consult commentaries and other helps
Persevere... don't quit... it will be worth it

Finally here are a few books that have helped me greatly in understanding and appreciating the Old Testament. If you have others that will help feel free to leave a comment!

Old Testament Turning Points by Victor Harold Matthews
Immanuel In Our Place by Tremper Longman III
How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth by Gordon Fee and Doug Stuart
An Introduction to the Old Testament by Tremper Longman III and Raymond Dillard

*** The last book is a larger textbook but it has a good chapter on each OT book that will help you get your bearings before reading it.

to be continued...

PRINCIPLE #4 - Don't Overlook Prayer Time

One false assumption many Christians make is that reading Scripture is primarily inward focused and prayer is primarily outward focused. What I mean by that is this: they think that reading Scripture feeds their soul (which it most certainly does!) but they find a hard time understanding how praying to God does the same. They see prayer mainly as a way to present your requests to God and nothing more. Thus many Christians feel more motivated to read/study their Bibles during their daily devotions than they do to pray.

This was the case with me early in my Christian life. I saw prayer as nothing more than a way to bring requests before God and wait for Him to answer. While I knew it was important, what I really wanted to do was get the prayer over with so I could get on with the part that really gave ME satisfaction - reading/studying Scripture. First, let it be said that this was not a very God-centered way to approach daily time with God. But it's also crucial to note that this view of prayer is too rigid and narrow-minded.

While prayer is most certainly secondary to Scripture when it comes to revelation from God and what we can learn of Him, prayer can however be just as enriching for the soul as can intake of the Word at times.

One misconception we must correct is that prayer is only a means of bringing requests before God. Indeed this is a primary purpose of prayer as revealed in Scripture (Phil. 4:6-7, 1 John 5:14-15) but not it's only purpose.

Jesus saw prayer as a way to commune with God. Mark 1:35 says, "Very early in the morning while it was still dark Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place where he prayed." The text makes no mention of what Jesus prayed about or what he asked for (if anything). But you do get the sense that Jesus needed to spend time alone with the Father and he did so by praying. Prayer is a pouring out of your soul to God... a means by which you can cast all your cares and burdens on him and have him take them from you. In this way prayer is extremely enriching and profitable for your soul.

I would suggest mixing it up when praying during your quiet times. I have a constant prayer list that I go through on most days. This takes roughly half of my quiet time. However on some days I simply come to God in prayer with no agenda but to pour out my soul to him. This is very enriching as well. I also stop to pray multiple times as I read/study Scripture when a verse or passage hits me especially hard.

I would also suggest spending regular time in prayer with God where you don't read any Scripture at all. Not that Scripture isn't vital and of utmost importance, but setting aside ample time to simply pray and seek God in that particular way is helpful and enriching. It can be hard at first to spend more than 10 minutes in prayer with no set agenda. Your mind wonders constantly and you may feel as though you've run out of things to say. First keep in mind that God isn't upset when your mind wonders. He knows you are human. Just bring it back to him and ask him to help you stay focused and go on. Also, don't think you always have to be saying something. Silent prayer (and by silent I don't mean just lack of audible noise but also not saying anything to God in your head) used to be practiced and taught much more consistently in the church than it is today. However again you must discipline your mind to stay focused on God. I've found that repeating a word such as "JESUS" can be helpful in this aspect. Through silent prayer we place our hearts before God's throne and say to him, "Do with me what you will." Again, this will be hard at first but after consistant practice and discipline it becomes easier and is well worth it. Remember, you can't get better at something unless you spend time trying and failing.

I'll have more to say on God-centered prayer in a future post.

to be continued...

PRINCIPLE #3 - Choosing The Best Time

Another way to make sure you are making your daily devotions about God (God-centered) and not about you is to have them at the time of day when you are most alert, most effective, and least distracted.

Many of us at one time or another have probably tried to read our Bibles and pray before we go to bed at night. I'm not going to say this is wrong, but I am going to say it is wrong for me. Here's why. At night my body crashes... hard. The closer and closer I get to my typical bed time the less alert I become. My wife has often commented on how she can't have a good conversation with me past 10pm.

But in my early college years I tried to make it my habit to read my Bible and pray every night before I went to bed. This led to numerous negative consequences...

Immediately forgetting what I had just read
Falling asleep while praying with my eyes closed
Skipping quiet times because I was too tired
Rushing through a chapter or two just to mark it off the list and get to bed

I didn't realize it until a close mentor pointed it out to me, but switching the time that I did my devotionals fixed all of these problems. Now I have my quiet times in the morning when I am wide-awake, alert, focused, and not distracted. My time with God is so much more rich because I've placed myself in the best position for Him to speak to me.

Does this mean that YOU need to do your daily devotions in the morning? Not necessarily. I have a good friend who is NOT a morning person and a bit of a night owl so he often has his as late as midnight and this works well for him. The key is finding what is best for you. Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

At what time of day am I most alert/focused?
At what time of day am I the LEAST distracted?
Can I re-organize my life around my optimal devotional time?
Are there things I need to give up (tv shows, sports games, late nights, or even sleep)?
Can I ask others to help me (spouse watching kids, roommate playing video games at a different time, someone to hold you accountable to daily time w/ God)?

There will be seasons in life where #1 and #2 don't match up. Maybe #3 isn't a possibility right now. Maybe #5 just can't happen. However make sure you are being 100% honest with yourself and God when asking these questions. So often we can't find the time to have a daily Bible/prayer time but we'll NEVER miss a UK Basketball game! Take some time and actually sit down and compare the rewards you get doing one versus the other. Is it even a question which is better for you?

Finally, if you need to improve in this area pray for God to help you. I can't tell you how many times I've prayed something as simple as, "God, help the events in my life to fall into place so I can have a productive daily time slot for you," and God came through for me! Be honest with Him about your struggles. Tell him if you don't want to get up in the morning. Tell Him if you're struggling to give up watching that TV show for a quiet time. Ask Him to change your heart. You'll be glad you did.

PRINCIPLE #2 - Slow Down & Meditate

In part 1 we established that the Bible was not meant to be read like a novel because it's made up of different books by different authors from different time periods addressing different things. Another reason for this is that God intends to work on your heart through the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself, the world, your sin, and other things to you during your reading. Reading through books of the Bible quickly like you would Harry Potter or some such book can cause you to miss things that otherwise could have been very beneficial for your spiritual growth.

The point of reading the Bible is not to know more about the Bible, it's to know God, to fall more and more in love with Him, and to be conformed to His image. Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2 both show us that those following God mediate constantly on His word. To do this effectively it helps if you SLOW DOWN. Divide your reading up into sections and pause to mediate on what God is trying to speak to you after each section. Stop each time you read a verse that pierces to your heart and simply let it hit you. Sometimes you will meditate on a new truth about God or mankind you just learned. Other times you should stop to simply rekindle your appreciation for old truths you already know such as Jesus' death for your sins or the hope of heaven. Your goal should not simply be to finish the Bible or a book of the Bible in a certain amount of time. Your goal, again, should be falling more and more in love with God, worshipping Him, and being conformed to his likeness. What's the point if you've read through the entire Bible in half a year and yet have not grown spiritually as much as you could have???

It's important to remember that meditation takes discipline. If you're not used to doing this it will seem burdensome at first. You will not want to stop and slow down to meditate. Your natural desire will be to keep going and finish a certain amount. However let me tell you first-hand the benefits that come from slow reading and regular meditation are well worth it. You will be surprised at the things God reveals to your heart.

I will say that there are benefits to reading a whole book of the Bible in one sitting - especially the letters of the NT. This helps you to get a great overview of the "big picture" so to speak. However if you do this, go back and read the book slowly a second time pausing to meditate regularly.

Finally, remember that meditation should not terminate on itself but should culminate in worshipful prayer to God. If you meditate on a passage that convicts you of sin, confess that sin to the Lord and pray for strength to rid yourself of it. If you meditate on a truth of God that blows your mind, worship Him in prayer and tell Him how great and glorious you think He is. If you meditate on a passage that breaks your heart for the lost, pray for lost people you know and for opportunities to affect them for Christ.

to be continued...

It's been my observation that many of us Christians do not have a very God-centered view of daily devotions. What I mean is this: we come to the Bible on our own terms instead of on God's. We seek to use the Bible instead of allowing it to change us. We seek to manipulate God into liking us because we have daily quiet times instead of desiring to know Him more through them. We read into the Bible our pre-conceived theology instead of allowing it to shape what we believe.

In light of this I thought it might be beneficial to write a multiple-part series on how to have God-centered daily devotions.

PRINCIPLE #1 - Read straight through books of the Bible.

The Bible was not meant to be read straight through from cover to cover like a novel. However most of the individual books within the Bible were intended to be read from beginning to end (you could debate this for the book of Psalms).

If we want to grasp the intended message of God and the biblical authors we can't do as many Christians do and simply take a different verse or chapter from different books each day for our devotions. This leads to taking sections or verses out of context from their intended meaning.

Practically this means don't let devotional books such as My Utmost for His Highest or others that give a "verse for the day" be your lone source of time in Scripture. These are good for supplemental devotional time but won't give your soul the sustenance it needs to grow and thrive. Only consistent time reading through Scripture the way it was intended can do that. And don't flip open to a different part of Scripture each day. Stay consistent. Read straight through books of the Bible. Read straight through the NT and then straight through the OT if you can. The Bible was not meant to be a magical Ouija board where you close your eyes, drop it open to whatever page it falls to, and it magically gives you the verse God wanted you to see for that day. God has the power to do those things, but it's not how He intended His word to be studied by His people.

So try to make it a goal to sit down each day and read a couple chapters consecutively from Matthew or Genesis or Romans or 1 Samuel. This will help you to come to Scripture on God's terms and not on your own... to read it the way God intended it to be read rather than to use it for your own purposes.

to be continued...

“Honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” - Exodus 20:12

The foundational purpose of this commandment is to mirror the debt of honor we owe to God. The other day I heard a friend say to his dad, “Dad, you owe me 20 bucks.” The dad then replied, “Son, you owe me your life.” They had a good laugh but the point is so true that even non-Christians agree with it. Simply bringing a person into this world inherently tells us that that person owes their very existence to their parents and therefore owes honor to them. The same is true for our relationship to God. He is the Creator of man (Gen. 1:26, ch.2). Our parents brought us into this world through physical birth but our Father in heaven created and formed us in the womb and even deeper than that is responsible for the existence of all mankind. Also we do not get to choose what kind of parents we get; we are simply brought into this world by the parents we have. Similarly we don’t get to choose what kind of God we get. We don’t get to decide whether or not we owe him our life. We are born debtors. We owe God our lives, our honor, and our glory and we owe our parents honor simply because they are responsible for our existence, just as God is.

One of the most poignant examples of this principle in the Bible is the story of Hosea and Gomer. God calls Hosea to take for himself an adulterous wife. He marries Gomer. She then proceeds to commit adultery on him. In response God does not call Hosea to divorce his wife, as many would expect, but to go buy her back and show love to her again. This is what God has done for us. In creating us we were his from the beginning. We owed him our faithfulness from the day we were born. But each one of us has been unfaithful and chosen sin. So God, in his never-ending love and compassion came and showed love to us again and bought us back (even though we were his to begin with) through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. Truly now, having been created and bought back again by God we owe Him everything.

So the fundamental reason for the command to honor our earthly parents is because God Himself created us and as soon as we came into existence we owed him our life. Furthermore he bought us with his blood on the cross. He is the reason for our being alive and he is the reason we can inherit eternal life, and therefore all glory, honor, and worship is due him. In a similar way our parents are responsible for bringing us into this world and as soon as we are born we owe them honor for the rest of their (or our) lives.

Have you ever tried to explain God or the gospel to someone only to have them reply, "I just don't think God would be like that"? Maybe they didn't think a loving God would send people to hell. Maybe they thought different religions are simply equal paths to the same God. Whatever the case their views were based upon subjective experience (i.e. their opinions) and not objective truth.

We must be careful not to simply chalk these responses up to ignorance and then give up on the person. The way to reach these people for the gospel is to put ourselves in their shoes and figure out why they think this way. But first we must understand our position as created beings and the proper way to relate to God as our Creator.

Consider Isaiah 29:16:

¹⁶ You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!   Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,  "He did not make me"?   Can the pot say of the potter,  "He knows nothing"?

We can’t just say, “Well I don’t think God would act like that,” or “I don’t feel like that’s how God really is.” As if God’s character and being depend on our opinions.

For example, if you’re on vacation and your neighbor calls and says, “Your house just got robbed,” you would not reply by saying, “No, I don’t feel like my house got robbed,” or even, “I just don’t think anyone would rob my house.” You’re in denial. Whether or not your house got robbed does not depend on how you feel or what you think.

Another example is the status of the un-evangelized. In Romans 1:18-3:20 Paul shows that clearly NO ONE will be justified apart from faith in Jesus. Even the unreached people groups who only have access to general revelation will be judged by the law on their hearts that they chose to disobey (Rom. 1:20-21, 2:12-15). Therefore their state is hopeless unless reached with the good news of Jesus.

We can't just say that we don't think God will send the un-evangelized to hell (as many Christians do). In fact, those who say such things don't actually act like they believe it. How so? They promote missions. This biblical doctrine is the greatest motivation for missions. If those who never heard about Jesus went to heaven wouldn’t we do everything in our power to STOP them from hearing about Jesus? By that logic, apart from Jesus all go to heaven, but once you hear about him there’s a chance for hell. But most Christians would agree that this is ludicrous.

In our post-modern world Bible-believing Christians are fighting an uphill battle for objective truth. Some crucial goals in reaching the lost need to be helping non-Christians realize:

God is Creator
He is the standard of absolute, objective truth
He has revealed this truth to us in the Bible
We don't choose what kind of God we get

When we come into this world we either reckon with God ultimately leading to our joy or we suppress the truth of His existence, His holiness, and our sinfulness to our eternal loss.

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