What I Wish (as a Pastor) that I had Known, Understood, Believed and Lived 30 years ago (Part 4)

This week we continue with our focus on where we derive our primary identity from…our ministry or from Christ.

Number 3: Your identity is defined by your relationship with Jesus…not by your ministry!

Where we derive our primary identity from will have a profound impact upon our ministry and our enjoyment of that ministry (or lack of enjoyment).

Samuel Rima, in his book Leading from the Inside Out: The Art of Self-Leadership, writes the following:

“Never before have there been more demands and pressures for those in positions of spiritual leadership. As a result of these increased demands and expectations, a higher percentage of pastors than ever before are leaving the ministry as a result of burnout and depression.”

I would suggest that one reason for this is the fact that over time, our identity as a person becomes too deeply tied to our ministry, rather than our relationship with Christ!

In other words, our core identity is intertwined with our “profession” (pastoring) rather than our personal relationship with Christ. I think all men (in particular) struggle with this – whether they are in full-time vocational ministry or not. As men we tend to identify ourselves by what we do…by our career.

Again, Samuel Rima writes…

“…one of the principal reasons for the escalating number of clergy members who are experiencing serious depression is the perceived inability to produce success in their ministry. It is vitally important that we as spiritual leaders recognize that we can do our very best and in fact be doing everything right and still not realize the growth and ministry expansion for which we long. When our emotional and spiritual well-being become inordinately dependent on the growth of our ministry rather than on who we are in Christ, the imbalance can create for us serious emotional problems.”

Tullian Tchividjian writes…

“Contrary to what many Christians believe, the greatest threat to Gospel advancement are not the idols outside the Church, but the idols inside the Church. John Calvin said that, “Our hearts are idol-making factories.” We take the good gifts of God and we turn them into ultimate objects of worship. We turn them into things that we depend on to give our lives meaning and value and worth and security. Which means that the greatest threat to Gospel advancement in your life has nothing to do with outside circumstances or worldly idols. It has everything to do with inside idols.

C.S. Lewis, in his remarkable book The Screwtape Letters, advises a demon in training to keep Christians in a state of mind that he calls “Christianity and.” He says, “Keep your patient (by patient, he’s talking about this young convert) in a constant state of mind that I call ‘Christianity and.’”

In other words, he says that if people must be Christians, let them be Christians with a diversion. Christianity and success. Christianity and politics. Jesus and tradition. Jesus and a certain type of dress or music.

Screwtape says, “Never let them come to a place where mere Christianity is enough. Ever.” In other words, he is saying, “Don’t ever let them get to the place where they really believe that Jesus plus nothing equals everything.”

The idolatry issue and the identity issue are interconnected because idolatry is trying to build your identity on something besides God. This is not just a problem for non-Christians. It’s a problem for Christians, too. Christians are also guilty of trusting in things smaller than Jesus to give their lives meaning and significance. Jesus and our achievements. Jesus and our reputation. Jesus and our relationships. Jesus and our strengths, our place in society, our ambitions, our goals, our dreams, and on and on it goes. Jesus plus something. And there are a host of things inside the Church that are trying to keep us from believing that Jesus plus nothing equals everything.

It doesn’t say Jesus plus your political power. Jesus plus your national influence, Jesus plus your abilities, or your money. The Gospel is Jesus plus nothing equals everything and that everything minus Jesus equals nothing. That’s pure unadulterated, unambiguous Gospel math. That’s what the Gospel does, it comes in and it smashes our idols. It reorients us back to pure Gospel math each and every day. Plus, let’s not make the mistake in thinking that idolatry is only just a non-Christian problem.

So…how about you? What is the one thing, or what are those few things that if you lost them, or if you had to part with them, would devastate you? What is your non-negotiable?”

Is your ministry an idol? Do you value it more than you value Jesus? Next week I will share with you four signs that give us a clue that we are deriving our primary identity and value from our ministry instead of Jesus.

The two passages that I have always clung to throughout the ups and downs of ministry life are Psalm 73:25-26 and Psalm 62:5-7…

“Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart my fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26 NASB)

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” (Psalm 62:5-7 NIV)

Until then, my prayer for all of us is that we would keep Jesus as our supreme treasure and greatest passion! No matter what happens in our life, we will always have Him and He will always have us! Our core identity is: We are children of the living God!

What I Wish (as a Pastor) that I had Known, Understood, Believed and Lived 30 years ago (Part 3)

This week, we return to the third lesson I’ve learned (or I should say, still learning) after reflecting on my time in the pastorate. (As a side note: realize that this particular series of blog posts are primarily related to men in the pastorate, but many of the principles apply to people in all walks of life – both men and women, young and old, rich and poor, from all countries and cultures).

Number 3: Your identity is defined by your relationship with Jesus…not by your ministry!

By “identity” I mean the place from which you derive your sense of worth, your sense of value, your sense of significance as a person.

What you do (your ministry) does not define who you are. If your ministry went up in a puff of smoke and disappeared off the face of the earth – you would still be who you are. Your core identity would not have changed at all. Your core identity is: “I am a child of God.” He loves you “with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). That will never change. God is your “mighty rock, your refuge” (Psalm 62:5-7).

The world constantly tempts us to find our identity in someone or something that is smaller than Jesus. It tempts us to place our identity in what we can achieve, attain or accomplish. In direct contrast, Colossians tells us that our identity is found “in Christ!” (Colossians 3:1-4).

It’s so easy to “default” into deriving our sense of worth from human approval and acceptance by others. As long as things are going well and people seem to be approving and accepting of what we do and who we are, life is pretty easy. But once the tables are turned and you begin to experience rejection from people instead of acceptance, disapproval instead of approval…it is then that your true identity is put to the test! Who are you at that moment? Do you still have value? Do you still have worth?

I have found that it is usually during the hard times – when you are experiencing rejection and disapproval – that the true source of your identity rises to the surface. Is it Jesus? Or is it your ministry?

Remember: Jesus is my supreme treasure! For me to live is Christ…not my job or ministry! My core identity is found in Christ! Christ defines who I am.

Is your ministry your idol? One way to tell is how you would respond if it all collapsed tomorrow. Where do you draw your “life” from? Jesus…or your ministry? Jesus never changes and will always be the same. Ministry is a roller coaster from week to week, month to month, year to year.

Remember: Because you are a child of God, who is loved and accepted by Him, you have nothing to prove and nothing to lose. You have total and complete acceptance from the only One who really matters – God!

As the Apostle Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

Tullian Tchividjian (Sr. Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL) said the following at a recent Desiring God Pastors Conference in Minneapolis, MN (truly profound words!):

“When we are united to Christ, we don’t need to spend our lives trying to earn the approval, earn the acceptance, earn the affection of those around us, because Jesus has already earned God’s approval, acceptance, and affection for us. Do you realize how freeing that is? How liberating that is? How that will radically change every relationship that you have?

Because of Christ’s finished work, we can have the justification and the love and the mercy and the grace and cleansing and the new beginning and the approval and the acceptance and the righteousness and the rescue that all of us long for, and that all of us are looking for in a thousand things that are smaller than Jesus.

It was rediscovering the Gospel that enabled me to see that because Jesus was strong for me, I was free to be weak. Because Jesus won for me, I was free to lose. Now I could lose my place and my position and my reputation, I could lose all those things and not lose my core identity, because my identity was located, anchored in Christ. Not in anything I could do, not in anyone I could become. It was rediscovering this Gospel that freed me.

Let me tell you a little secret…when you are free to lose, it enables you to live a life of unbounded courage, sacrifice, and generosity. You can spend your life going to the back instead of trying to get to the front. Listen, life cannot beat a man who doesn’t care if he loses!

It’s why Paul was able to say, “To live is Christ, to die is gain!”

Nothing and no one in this world can take away from me that which makes me, me. Namely Christ. You can slander my name, you can tell the whole world lies about me, you can beat my body, you can beat my reputation, you can throw me under the bus and run me over again and again and again, and I can suffer with a smile because you are not taking away who I am.

In Christ my identity is secure, which frees me to give everything I have because in Christ, I already have everything I need. That sentence changed my life… The Gospel calls us to live radically and generously.”

Until next week…may Jesus be your supreme treasure and your greatest passion! And may you find your true identity in Him and in Him alone! Remember: He (Jesus) is the “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:45-46), not your ministry! Your identity is anchored to Him!

What I Wish (as a Pastor) that I had Known, Understood, Believed and Lived 30 years ago (Part 2)

Some of you may recall a series of blog posts that I began back in November entitled “What I Wish (as a Pastor) that I had Known, Understood, Believed and Lived 30 years ago.” I said that I would share “12 Lessons” (out of 50 that I started with).

The first lesson was: “Decide which hills are worth dying on, and which are not.” Since that initial post, I have pretty much put my blog on hiatus, simply because my schedule became a bit overwhelming. This week, I wanted to pick up where I left off by sharing with you the “Second Lesson” on my list:

Number 2: Live to an audience of One.

You can’t please all the people all the time…or even most of the people most of the time.

Be far more concerned with the opinions of heaven than the opinions of earth!

You will never be able to live up to everyone’s expectations of you – including some of your closest friends.

You will be misunderstood. People will believe hurtful, false things about you and your family. The larger your ministry grows, the more this will be true! Know that this is normal. Every leader faces this.

The sooner you accept this, the sooner you can get on with pleasing the only One that really matters (God). Entrust yourself to Him who judges justly! (1 Peter 2:23).

Nine passages of Scripture, in particular, have brought consistent comfort and encouragement to me throughout my years of ministry related to this issue. I committed these verses to memory in my early 20’s and they have helped me to keep my focus on “living to an audience of One.”

Here are those nine passages…

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23 NIV)

“Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5 NASB)

“Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart my fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26 NASB)

“One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.” (Psalm 27:4-5 NASB)

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18 NASB)

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” (Psalm 62:5-7 NIV)

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NASB)

“For they [the Pharisees] loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” (John 12:43 NASB)

“We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4 NIV)

(Note: most of the passages are from the NASB because this was the translation that I memorized almost all of my verses in, with a few from the NIV)

Next week we will move to number three.

Like an Unopened Love Letter

The above picture is one I took back in the Summer of 1983 when Lisa and I (and our then newborn  daughter, Carrisa) were visiting Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregon. Next door to Multnomah’s campus was Central Bible Church, both of which were founded by Dr. John G. Mitchell. One of his most memorable sayings was “Don’t you folks ever read your Bibles?” Years after John Mitchell had left Central Bible (1967), they placed Mitchell’s now famous saying into the brick wall at the front entrance of the sanctuary.

I thought of this recently when I was sent a YouTube video from a friend. The video showed a remote tribe (the Kimyal people) in the mountains of West Papua, Indonesia receiving the very first Bible in their own language. This just happened in 2010. Never in the history of the Kimyal people group have they ever had the Scriptures in their own language!

While watching the video, I was touched, moved, convicted and encouraged all at the same time. As the single engine plane comes in for a landing on this remote mountain airstrip, the Kimyal people are all gathered dancing, worshiping and praying.

When the plane lands and the first box of Bibles are unloaded from the plane, these dear Kimyal people are seen weeping and worshiping with tears of joy! I was so moved by their deep love and appreciation for a copy of God’s Word in their own language that it challenged me to evaluate my own gratitude and love for the Bible.

The reality here in America is that we have more Bibles than at any time in our history. We not only have God’s Word in our own language, but we have it in dozens and dozens of various translations. In addition, we have a number of different “Study Bibles” available to us. As a recent advertisement in a Christian magazine showed (picture at left), there are a countless variety of Bibles available from just this one publisher alone.

But here’s the sad irony: although we have more Bibles than at any time in our history, Christians in America are reading and studying it less and less. In an article entitled “Six Major Patterns of Change in the U.S. Church,” from the Barna Research Group, the latest statistics show that the first “pattern of change” is:

“The Christian church is becoming less theologically literate.”

The article went on to say…

“What used to be basic, universally known truths about Christianity are now unknown mysteries to a large and growing share of Americans – especially young adults.

As the two younger generations (Busters and Mosaics) ascend to numerical and positional supremacy in churches across the nation, the data suggest that biblical literacy is likely to decline significantly. The theological free-for-all that is encroaching in Protestant churches nationwide suggests the coming decade will be a time of unparalleled theological diversity and inconsistency.”

A few years ago, an article appeared in Christianity Today that was written by a professor at Wheaton College named Gary Burge. In this article, Burge discussed a study conducted by the Bible and Theology department at Wheaton College. This study was conducted over a four year period of time and it sought to assess the biblical literacy of incoming freshman students. His findings were alarming to say the least.

He discovered through this four year study that one third of the incoming freshman were biblically illiterate.

These students were not unchurched, but were representative of almost every Protestant denomination and every state in the country. Most of the students came from strong evangelical churches and possessed a long history of personal devotion and Christian involvement. These students said that they used the Bible regularly, but interestingly, very few knew many of the most familiar stories in the Bible.

The study conducted by Wheaton should be an eye opener for us. It shows a trend that is appearing more and more across our country. In the Christianity Today article, Professor Burge wrote the following:

“The Bible has become a springboard for personal piety and meditation, not a book to be read. The problem is that the spiritual life has become less a matter of learning than it is a matter of experiencing. Religious certainty is ancho red less to historical and theological fact than it is to compelling spiritual encounters. Thus sermons become more therapeutic and less instructional; and the validity of what we do on Sunday morning is grounded in what we feel, not in what we think.”

Scripture says in Colossians 3:16 that we are to “let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly…”

As we start a new year, I would encourage you to make it a priority to “read and feed” on God’s Word regularly (if you aren’t already). Whether you decide to follow a “read the Bible in one year” program, or to simply focus on studying certain key passages in a deeper way, the most important thing is that you treasure “God and His holy Word,” and allow it to transform your life.

I hope you will take the time to view this brief video of the Kimyal people in West Papua, Indonesia.  Let it challenge and motivate you to a deeper love and commitment to God and His most precious Word!

I leave you with these quotes…

“If you can find time to do anything other than stay alive, you can find time for reading…It’s all a matter of determining priorities, deciding what you should do with the twenty-four hours God gives all of us each day.” (James Sire)

“God has not bowed to our nervous haste nor embraced the methods of our machine age. The man who will know God must give time to Him.” (A.W. Tozer)

“The Bible was written to be read. An unread Bible is like food that is refused, an unopened love letter, a buried sword, a road map not studied, a gold mine not worked.” (Irving L. Jensen)

What I Wish (as a Pastor) that I had Known, Understood, Believed and Lived 30 years ago

Recently, I had the privilege and opportunity to speak to a group of pastors on the subject of “What I Wish (as a Pastor) I Had Known, Understood, Believed and Lived 30 years Ago.” I narrowed my list down to “12 Lessons” (out of 50 that I began with). I thought I would share with you one or two of these each week for the next few weeks. Even if you are not a pastor, I think you will find that most of the principles that I will be sharing are applicable to all of life…your personal life, family life and ministry.

Let me also say, these are very specific to me as a person – my personality style, my background, my natural “bents” that I have in how I tend to live and make decisions. I realize that for others who have very different personalities and backgrounds, these may not apply in the same way.

This week, I’d like to share with you the first lesson in my list of twelve (these are not in order of importance).

Number 1: Decide which hills are worth dying on, and which are not.

The longer I live, the fewer “hills” I find that are truly worth dying on. You will save yourself a great deal of unnecessary pain by learning early on which battles are worth fighting and which are not.

Early on in my ministry years, I tended to see everything (and when I say “everything,” I mean everything!) in very black and white terms – even the smallest of issues, matters of opinion and personal convictions. I unnecessarily alienated many people over the years and hurt relationships and friendships because I was determined to show that I was “right!” I so deeply regret my immaturity and hard-headedness, mixed with zeal-without-wisdom (although, of course, I thought I had wisdom).

One of the biggest problems that we typically have early on in ministry (or life) is that “we don’t know what we don’t know.” We think that our perspective is “thorough and complete,” when in fact there are gaping holes in our understanding of both Scripture and people.

This is why it is so important to learn from those that have “been there, done that.” To learn from those that have demonstrated “wisdom, maturity and godliness” in life and ministry. To learn from those that you respect because you have watched their life and ministry over the years and have seen the outcome “of their way of life” and therefore should “imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7 ESV).

This is the essence of the book of Proverbs – “My son, learn from me…”, or it could be translated, “Young man / woman, learn and listen from those with greater wisdom and understanding…you will save yourself a great deal of unnecessary pain if you do so.”

If you’ve ever heard the statement, “He won the battle but lost the war,” or “He won the argument, but lost a friend,” you know what I’m talking about. This is especially true when raising teenagers. You may win the argument “hands down” and make your case “rock solid,” but you just alienated the son or daughter that you love so deeply. If you don’t determine which hills (issues) are worth dying on and which ones are not, you will harm your relationship with your teenage son or daughter and push them away from the very faith that you want them to embrace.

When you do have a discussion or disagreement, always permeate it with “humility and civility.” This principle also applies in marriage. A corollary to this principle would be “major on the majors, and minor on the minors.” Satan loves nothing more than to get Christians to “major on minors, and minor on majors.” If Satan can get Christians to argue, fuss and fight about “peripheral issues in life and ministry,” he has successfully taken our valuable time and attention away from the bigger, most important issues in life – the glory of God and a lost and dying world that needs the message of salvation.

Having said that, let me say what I don’t mean: I don’t mean that we simply throw doctrine to the wind and just “love everybody.” Sound doctrine is at the heart of the Christian faith! There are issues that are central to our Christian faith (major doctrines) that we never compromise, and there are issues that are peripheral to our Christian faith that we need to allow for “wiggle room.” We must also remember what the Apostle Paul said about the issue of personal convictions in Romans 14…

“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:1-4 ESV)

Listen to these wise words from Proverbs…

“It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but a fool is quick to quarrel.” (Proverbs 20:3)

“Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” (Proverbs 10:12)

“A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.” (Proverbs 15:18)

“Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.” (Proverbs 17:1)

“Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.” (Proverbs 17:14)

“Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.” (Proverbs 17:19)

I shared this in last week’s post as well, but I feel this is too important to leave out of this topic of choosing your battles wisely. Carl F. H. Henry was once asked, what causes you the most concern today as you view the Body of Christ?

“I suppose the needless competition and conflict, the lack of coordination and cooperation-which are really reflections of sin, compromise, and self-seeking at the expense of the whole body. These blunt the cutting edge of the Church as the regenerate Body of Christ in the world. I think evangelicals tend to institutionalize their differences swiftly, and then those differences contribute to conflict in the evangelical community. I am not interested in the least common denominator of evangelical commitment, but I do think that we need some sense of our commonalities and of what we ought to be doing together. We must not simply emphasize our differences.”

It breaks my heart when I see churches, denominations, Christian ministries and missions organizations who are so “territorial” and “unwilling to work with fellow believers.” I’m convinced the world looks on and says, “Why should I follow your God when you can’t even get along, when you divide over every little difference, when your unwilling to forgive those that have hurt you and when you can’t even seem to love one another?”

Francis Schaefer said…

“Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.”

He also went on to say…

“Through the centuries men have displayed many different symbols to show that they are Christians. They have worn marks in the lapels of their coats, hung chains about their necks, even had special haircuts.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with any of this, if one feels it is his calling.  But there is a much better sign-a mark that has not been thought up just as a matter of expediency for use on some special occasion or in some specific era.  It is a universal mark that is to last through all the ages of the church till Jesus comes back. What is that mark? Love – and the unity it attests to-is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world. Only with that mark may the world know that we are indeed Christians.“ (from The Mark of a Christian by Francis Schaeffer)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35 ESV)

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love…. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:7-8, 20 ESV)

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV)

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8 ESV)

“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…” (Ephesians 5:2 ESV)

Thoughts to Comfort and Challenge…

Here are a few great quotes / thoughts that I pray will both comfort and / or challenge you in your walk with Christ this week…

One of my heroes in the faith is the late Dr. Carl F. H. Henry. Someone asked him toward the end of his life (back in the 1990’s) this question:

What causes you the most concern today as you view the Body of Christ?

“I suppose the needless competition and conflict, the lack of coordination and cooperation—which are really reflections of sin, compromise, and self-seeking at the expense of the whole body. These blunt the cutting edge of the Church as the regenerate Body of Christ in the world. I think evangelicals tend to institutionalize their differences swiftly, and then those differences contribute to conflict in the evangelical community. I am not interested in the least common denominator of evangelical commitment, but I do think that we need some sense of our commonalities and of what we ought to be doing together. We must not simply emphasize our differences.”

“I would rather have one GOD idea than a thousand GOOD ideas. Good ideas are good. God ideas change the course of history!” (Mark Batterson – Sr. Pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C.)

“Good preaching should both…

• sting and sing
• wound and heal
• convict and comfort.

Much preaching today is only focused on the ‘sing, heal and comfort’ part and is therefore not presenting the ‘whole counsel’ of God’s Word.” (D. A. Carson)

“When I consider my crosses, tribulations and temptations, I shame myself almost to death thinking of what they are in comparison to the sufferings of my blessed Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Martin Luther)

“The principle is simple: when words are most empty, tears are most apt.” (Max Lucado)

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

“Christian growth doesn’t happen first by behaving better, but by believing better – believing in deeper ways what Christ has already secured for you in salvation.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

“When you understand that your significance and identity is anchored in Christ, you don’t have to win – you’re free to lose.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

“When you are united to Christ, then all that is Christ’s becomes yours: Access to God and affection from God can never be lost.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

“The gospel explains success in terms of giving, not taking; self-sacrifice, not self-indulgence; going to the back, not getting to the front.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

“The gospel empowers us to live for what’s timeless, not trendy – to follow Jesus even when it means going against what’s fashionable.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

“Because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, sinners can have the approval, acceptance, security, freedom, love, righteousness, and rescue that they long for.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

“The vertical indicative (what God has done for me) always precedes horizontal imperative (how I am to live in light of what God has done for me).” (Tullian Tchividjian)

“We need God’s gospel rescue every day and in every way because we are, in the words of John Calvin, ‘partly unbelievers until we die.’” (Tullian Tchividjian)

“Grace can be defined as unconditional acceptance granted to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

 

 

 

 

Suffering hardship, experiencing pain, and dealing with discouragement

What happens when your dreams are shattered? Recently I read an excellent book by Pete Wilson (lead pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN) entitled… Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up The Way You Thought He Would? In it, Wilson writes the following: “Do you remember the day you discovered your life wasn’t going to turn out quite the way you thought? It happens to everyone sooner or later. All of us have had dreams, wishes, goals, and expectations that, for a variety of reasons, have not come to fruition. Plans fizzle. Expectations come to nothing. Trusted people let us down – or we let ourselves down. Dreams shatter or slip away. Has it happened to you? Plan A comes to an abrupt stop, and you’re not sure if there even is a Plan B.” What do you do when life doesn’t turn out the way you originally thought it would? How do you respond when your dreams are shattered? When the pain (whether physical or emotional) becomes so overwhelming that you just want to die? So often, followers of Christ tend to (erroneously) think that “good, godly Christians” don’t ever have really bad things happen to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9… “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” Did you catch that? Afflicted in every way, perplexed, persecuted, struck down. Or how about what Jesus said in John 16:33? “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Pete Wilson goes on to mention several real life ‘shattered dreams’… “Maybe the realization hits you in the form of illness or even death – a terrifying diagnosis, a sudden descent into the world of hospital beds and IVs, the sudden loss of a close friend or family member. Maybe it involves a disillusioning church experience or a financial reversal. “Or maybe your shattered dream is completely different. Maybe you just knew that you would be married by now and have a family, but it’s just not happening. Now every wedding that you attend is a reminder that life isn’t turning out the way you expected. “Or maybe your heartache has come from not being able to get pregnant. You secretly feel the judgment of your Christian friends who have all bore their own children, and they seem to think that “maybe you did something wrong and God is punishing you for it.” The pain of even the slightest inkling that someone may think that, makes you both sad and mad…but mainly sad – and hurt as your eyes fill with tears, wondering in your most private thoughts, “Lord, why?” “Or maybe your shattered dream has been a daughter who came and told you that she is gay…and rejects your faith. You worked so hard at rearing her right, taking her to church, teaching her God’s Word…and yet you now find yourself brokenhearted, wondering, “Lord, where did I go wrong? I prayed for her every day of her life that she would grow up to love and honor you. Why have you not heard my prayers?” “Or maybe you thought that God was calling you into full time ministry, but no doors have opened up. And nobody seems to be asking. You prayed, you prepared…and then nothing.” Sometimes our dreams that get shattered are outward and obvious, but other times they are inward and not so obvious. Sometimes no one, outside  of you, even knows that your dream has been shattered. No one…except God. He knows. He cares. He is involved. He is good…and good all the time. He has sovereignly allowed this into your life for your good and His glory (Romans 8:28). “Nobody ever grew up thinking, “I’m going to get cancer at forty-one. Nobody ever grew up thinking, I’m going to get fired at fifty-seven. Nobody ever planned to be divorced and alone at forty-five or depressed at age thirty-five. Nobody thought their child would end up in prison at age twenty. “You never imagined you wouldn’t physically be able to have children. You never imagined you’d get stuck in a dead-end job. You never imagined the word that might best describe your marriage would be mediocre. “But it happened, and you’re frustrated. Or hurt. Or furious. Or all of the above. “When life isn’t turning out the way we had hoped, we almost always default to feeling as if God has abandoned us.” “The reality is that many of your questions will simply not have answers. But through it all, God himself will never change. This is why our faith must rest on God’s unchanging character and not necessarily His activity. “What if we viewed our hardships and challenges as opportunities to be the men or women God has created us to be? What would happen if we stopped grabbing for what we (wrongfully) think we are owed and instead try and receive each moment with gratitude and grace? “That choice…our attitude and response to what has happened… is ours.  What’s done is done. You can’t change it. But you can choose a graceful and grateful response from this day forward. Here is a principle found throughout the pages of the Bible: throughout life you will face one situation after another that will be completely beyond what you can handle. Why? As the Apostle Paul said so clearly in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9… “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” We can subtly begin to think that we are actually in control of our lives. Shattered dreams remind us how much of life is completely outside of our control. Do you remember the first time you realized that you were not in total control of your life? Wilson then goes on to write… “The greatest of all illusions is the illusion of control.” “Your dreams may not be happening, and things aren’t turning out the way you expected, but that doesn’t mean your life is spinning out of control. It just means that you are not in control. It’s in those moments you can learn to trust the only One who has ever had control in the first place . . . God.” “Can you believe that God is in control of all the details of your life right now, even when your life isn’t?” “We are called to be faithful to God even when it seems he hasn’t been faithful to us.” “We’re called to love him even when we feel abandoned. We’re called to look for him even in the midst of the darkness. We’re called to worship him even through our tears.” As the song by Matt Redman says so profoundly (note especially the underlined phrases)… Blessed be Your Name In the land that is plentiful Where Your streams of abundance flow Blessed be Your name Blessed Be Your name When I’m found in the desert place Though I walk through the wilderness Blessed Be Your name Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise When the darkness closes in, Lord Still I will say Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be Your name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be Your glorious name Blessed be Your name When the sun’s shining down on me When the world’s ‘all as it should be’ Blessed be Your name Blessed be Your name On the road marked with suffering Though there’s pain in the offering Blessed be Your name And then he ends the song with these words… You give and take away You give and take away My heart will choose to say Lord, blessed be Your name Or as the righteous and godly Job said after he was devastated by calamity after calamity that was allowed by the Lord… “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” (Job 13:15) And then one of my all time favorite passages in Scripture… “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His path I have kept His way and not turned aside I have not departed from the command of His lips I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:10-12 NASB) Wilson goes on to write later on in the book… “I’m so frustrated with the version of Christianity where we actually think our theology can fit onto a bumper sticker, a T-shirt, or a bracelet. Reality just isn’t that simple.” “You need to know the cross is not just the starting line. It’s the very centerpiece of your story with God. It’s the place where the pain of ‘you will have tribulation’ meets the triumph of ‘I have overcome the world.‘” As C. S. Lewis famously said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pain: It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” “You may not have had a choice on whether you could have kids or whether your loved one passed away or whether you got fired or your spouse had an affair. But you do get to choose how you respond. And in that choice lies an amazing amount of hope.” I have noticed throughout my years in ministry that people tend to respond one of two ways when dreams are shattered: They either allow their hurts and heartaches to make them bitter and cynical…more abrasive and blunt in their relationships with other people (because they falsely believe that is how God is treating them). Or they can allow the hurts and heartaches to soften them, humble them, and deepen their faith and love in our good, loving and sovereign God…choosing to believe each day that God sees the big picture and has allowed this as part of His grand plan that will bring them good and Him glory (Romans 8:28). Do you know what the most frequently stated promise in Scripture is? God promises us over and over, “I am with you.” As you face your “shattered dream,” you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that as a follower of Jesus Christ, he promises that He will “always be with you” (Matthew 28:20) and “will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). Back in 2001, I read Larry Crabb’s excellent book entitled Shattered Dreams: God’s Unexpected Pathway to Joy. It’s message is much the same as Wilson’s Plan B book. In it, he writes… “Our shattered dreams are never random. They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story. Pain is a tragedy. But it’s never only a tragedy. For the Christian, it’s always a necessary mile on the long journey to joy. The suffering caused by shattered dreams must not be thought of as something to relieve if we can or endure if we must.  It’s an opportunity to be embraced, a chance to discover our desire for the highest blessing God wants to give us, an encounter with Himself. This book is an invitation to taste and see that the Lord is good even when the bottom falls out of your life. “Live long enough and dreams important to you will shatter. Some will remain shattered. God will not glue together the pieces of every Humpty Dumpty who takes a great fall in your life. “The divorce will go through, the cancer will claim a loved one’s life, the Alzheimer’s will not be arrested (let alone reversed) by the latest drug.  The broken friendship will not be restored despite your best efforts to reconcile.  Your marriage will not be satisfying no matter how many counselors you consult or seminars you attend.  Your singleness will be an intolerable burden.  The budding ministry will never materialize.  The lost income will not be replaced by money pouring out of heaven’s windows. “When life doesn’t turn out the way we thought, how do we respond? What happens in us when life throws an unexpected curve our way, when the second shoe drops soon after the first? Most often, a more visible self-concern surfaces as the strongest passion we feel. It takes many forms – often self-pity, sometimes a hardened determination to survive, perhaps a relentless demand that someone see our pain and care. More often it’s a decision to hide, to let no one see our real struggles.” One of the first books that I read as a young follower of Christ during my mid-teen years was Philip Yancey’s book, Where is God When it Hurts?. It helped me to begin my walk with Christ with a deep commitment to and appreciation for the sovereignty of God in my life, as well as an understanding that to be a Christian doesn’t excuse us from suffering, heartache and disappointment. Scripture makes it very clear that even the most godly will face hurt and heartache, pain and problems, disappointment and discouragement in this life. Think with me to the original Apostles that laid the foundation for the New Testament church. Most of them suffered greatly because of their faith and many were martyred because they followed Jesus. As Randy Alcorn has said… “We like to serve others from the power position. We’d rather be healthy, wealthy, and wise as we reach out to the sick, poor, and ignorant. But people see and hear the gospel best when it comes through those who have known difficulty. Paul says, “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Suffering creates a sphere of influence for Christ that we couldn’t otherwise have.” And last, as the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-6 (NLT)… “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.”

Tears of the Saints

I wanted to share two incredibly powerful and excellent ministry-related resources with you today from the historic Lausanne Congress that just wrapped up last weekend in Cape Town, South Africa. The first is a heart-grabbing, tear-producing video entitled “The Tears of the Saints” relating the latest statistics on the needs in our world today. I would encourage you to take 4-5 minutes and watch it (I sat at my desk in stunned silence with tears welling up in my eyes after I watched it). I think you will agree with my assessment of it and I believe that you won’t regret it.

(Shared from History Makers. The statistics mentioned in the video above are listed at the bottom of today’s post)

Secondly, I watched a great interview a few days ago where the following question was posed to John Piper (who was one of the plenary speakers) during the Lausanne Congress:

The question was: Should we help alleviate the suffering of people here on earth, or should we help to alleviate the ultimate suffering that people will experience in hell for all eternity if they do not come to know Christ?

His answer was essentially: Both/and, not either/or. He went on to explain that when the Gospel takes root in the human soul, it makes us care about all suffering. It makes us want to alleviate all unjust human suffering here and now. But, because of the scope of eternity and the seriousness of the fires of hell, the eternal suffering is infinitely more serious.

He summed it up by saying, “Christians, in the name of Christ, care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.”

And then he went on to say this: “If you find resistance welling up in your heart about eternal suffering… or resistance welling up in your heart about alleviating suffering in the here and now, then either you have a defective view of Hell or you have a defective heart. And if your heart is good towards human beings, and your view of the Bible and of Hell are good, then you will be able to say, ‘We Christians care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering’. I’ve found that that sentence helps people not become either / or.”

Here are the statistics from “Tears of the Saints” video in case you wanted to keep them for future reference:

• There are only 100,000 missionaries in the world today
• Approximately 3% work among the unreached
• There are 16,000 people groups in the world today
• Over 6,000 of these people groups are considered unreached – that’s one-third of the world’s population (2 billion people)
• 3,700 of these people groups are unengaged and have no church or missionary
• That’s 350 million people who have no access to the Gospel
• Two out of every three people in the world live in Asia
• 70% of Asians have never heard of Jesus Christ
• 3.5 billion people in the world are Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist
• 86% of them do not personally know an individual who is a follower of Christ
• 2,252 language groups do not have one verse of Scripture translated into their own language
• Persecution and martyrdom are on the increase. For many Asian and North African believers, persecution is a daily reality.
• In North Korea, Laos and Iraq, believers face prison, torture and death for their faith
• Half the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day
• 30,000 people starve to death every day
• There are more than 13 million orphans worldwide
• In the past hour…
• 1,625 children were forced to live on the streets
• 1,667 children died from malnutrition and other diseases
• 257 children were orphaned because of HIV/AIDS
• 115 children became prostitutes
• Work is being done all across the world to reach the unreached – but the workers are few.
• You can do something…you can change the world

“The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.” (Carl F. H. Henry)

“Having seen all this, you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again, ‘I did not know.’” – William Wilberforce

How Do We Overcome Sin?

Over the years, one of my favorite writers and speakers has been Randy Alcorn. When I was in seminary (Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon) back in the late 1980′s, our family attended Good Shepherd Community Church where Stu Weber was lead pastor and Randy Alcorn was associate pastor. We learned much from both Stu and Randy during those years (and have since through their books).

A few weeks ago, I came across one of Randy Alcorn’s blog posts that dealt with the issue of “How do we overcome sin in our lives as Christians?” that I wanted to share with you (click here to read more). Here is Randy’s brief post dealing with the question of “How Do We Overcome?”

Recently, Of First Importance posted a citation from D. A. Carson, one of my favorite theologians and writers. If you’re not familiar with Carson, I highly recommend his works. Contemplate these biblical and powerful words:

“How dare you approach the mercy-seat of God on the basis of what kind of day you had, as if that were the basis for our entrance into the presence of the sovereign and holy God? No wonder we cannot beat the Devil. This is works theology. It has nothing to do with grace and the exclusive sufficiency of Christ. Nothing. Do you not understand that we overcome the accuser on the ground of the blood of Christ? Nothing more, nothing less. That is how we win. It is the only way we win. This is the only ground of our acceptance before God. If you drift far from the cross, you are done. You are defeated. We overcome the accuser of our brothers and sisters, we overcome our consciences, we overcome our bad tempers, we overcome our defeats, we overcome our lusts, we overcome our fears, we overcome our pettiness on the basis of the blood of the lamb.”

- D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 103

This brings to mind the words to the old 19^th century hymn “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand,” which I love:

My hope is built on nothing less / Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, / But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; / All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face, / I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale / My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; / All other ground is sinking sand.

Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God

This past weekend I had the privilege of participating in the 2010 Desiring God National Conference in Minneapolis, MN. The theme for this year’s conference was:

“Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God.”

The speakers this year ranged from…

Francis Chan

R.C. Sproul

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

Rick Warren

Randy Alcorn

Tullian Tchividjian

to John Piper (who sponsors the conference each year).

Simultaneous to the conference was also the release of John’s latest book entitled “Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God.”

I thought you would appreciate hearing just one paragraph from the introduction to his new book, that also set the stage for the entire conference this past weekend. John writes (bold and underlining mine)…

“This book is a plea to embrace serious thinking as a means of loving God and people. It is a plea to reject either-or thinking when it comes to…

head and heart,

thinking and feeling,

reason and faith,

theology and doxology,

mental labor and the ministry of love.

It is a plea to see thinking as a necessary, God-ordained means of knowing God. Thinking is one of the important ways that we put the fuel of knowledge on the fires of worship and service to the world.”

What I loved so much about this conference was that humility and love for your brother permeated every message and every conversation. It was wonderful to be in an environment where “thinking” and “thinking hard” was emphasized, but marinated in love for God and love for our neighbor.

As the Apostle Paul said so clearly in 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (which was also one of the key texts for the entire conference),

“Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.”

I thought over the next couple of weeks I would share with you a few “nuggets” that I came away with from this amazing three day event. By the way, in case you are interested in watching on video or listening in audio to any of the plenary sessions, you can watch / listen / download them for free here.

Here are a few quotes and thoughts that I found helpful and insightful…

“God is in charge of keeping people humble, not us.” (John Piper)

“There is not a thing in you or me that inclined God to choose you for himself. It is totally free. Our theology is meant to flatten us so that no one would boast in the presence of God. ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ (2 Corinthians 10:17) It’s about smashing human pride and getting glory for God and God alone.” (John Piper)

During one of the Q & A sessions, the question was brought up, “How can we get the people within our congregation to really ‘think’ about God and the gospel?” Here are two of the comments that were made in response to that question:

“I really encourage people to read. Even it it’s just a paragraph a night. Start to read and exercise the muscle of your mind and it will get stronger and thirstier. I was a high school drop out and I eventually became a bookworm. Those who don’t enjoy thinking or don’t think that thinking is necessary should start reading.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

Here was what John Piper said in response to getting people to read (I’m paraphrasing),

“A lot of people think that I must be this amazing scholar and prolific reader – the kind of reader that can devour a book in a few hours. First of all, I do not consider myself a scholar – by any stretch of the imagination. I also am a very slow reader. I can only read as fast I can talk. Most people are surprised to know that I am actually a very slow reader.” (John Piper)

“One thing is clear: Knowledge that is loveless is not true knowledge. It’s imaginary knowledge, no matter how factual it is. “ (1 Corinthians 8:1-3) (John Piper)

“Loving God means that God is our supreme treasure and pleasure. We prefer above all else to know him and see him and be with him and be like him.” (John Piper)

“My greatest desire for this conference is that you will embrace serious thinking as a way of loving God and people – that through the awakening and sharpening of your thinking, you will love God and love people more deeply and more fully and more unshakable.” (John Piper)

“To that end may the cross of Christ – the deepest, highest, clearest revelation of God in history – be the focus of your thinking. There is no other place where you can see him more clearly or love him dearly. The cross is the place where your thinking will be most deeply purified and the worth of God will be most fully magnified.” (John Piper)

“The fullest expression of Christian living has to be a combination of God’s truth entering the head, igniting the heart, and outworking through the hands.” (Thabiti Anyabwile)