John Piper reads my blog!

Okay, probably not. But here's the deal:

I posted a few days ago about something that has made a huge impact on my life recently. I talked about my iPhone and for all the good that it does.. it also is a danger. Check it out here- Day 17: Impacts.

I was reading a few blogs this morning and saw this post from John Piper. "Beware: The Bible is about to Threaten Your Smartphone Focus".

You can read the full post by clicking the link above but just to take the main points here:

Are apps a threat to God-focus? Yes. But it works both ways. Fight fire with fire.

If you are reading your Bible on your computer or your smartphone or your iPad, the presence of the email app and the news apps and the Facebook app threaten every moment to drag your attention away from the word of God.

True. Fight that. If your finger offends you, cut it off. Or use any other virtuous violence that sets you free to rivet your soul on God.

But don’t take mainly a defensive posture. Fight fire with fire.

Why should we think of the Facebook app threatening the Bible app? Why not the Bible app threatening the Facebook app, and the email app, and the RSS feeder, and the news?

Resolve that today you will press the Bible app three times during the day. No five times. Ten times! Maybe you will lose control and become addicted to Bible! Again and again get a two-minute dose of life-giving Food. Man shall not live by Facebook alone.

Great encouragement. Owning an iPhone definitely has an obsessive component to it. It's just so easy to access everything; however, am I more obsessed checking my email or the lastest tweets from my friends or the life-giving truth of God's word? Let's all take John's challenge and resolve today that we will gravitate more toward our swords than our social media.

God-given opportunities

"When you have a single mind (for Christ), you look on your circumstances as God-given opportunities for the furtherance of the gospel, and rejoice at what God is going to do instead of complaining about what God did not do." - Warren Wiersbe

Don't Forfeit Your Peace.

Elisabeth Elliot's Daily Devotional

Title: Don't Forfeit Your Peace
Author: Elisabeth Elliot

It would not be possible to exaggerate the importance hymns and spiritual songs have played in my spiritual growth. One of the latter, familiar to most of you, has this line: "O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer" (Joseph Scriven). Prayerlessness is one of many ways by which we can easily forfeit the peace God wants us to have. I've been thinking of some other ways. Here's a sampling:

- Resent God's ways.
- Worry as much as possible.
- Pray only about things you can't manage by yourself.
- Refuse to accept what God gives.
- Look for peace elsewhere than in Him.
- Try to rule your own life.
- Doubt God's word.
- Carry all your cares.

If you'd rather not forfeit your peace, here are eight ways to find it (antidotes to the above eight):

- "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psalm 119:165 KJV). "Circumstances are the expression of God's will," wrote Bishop Handley Moule.
- "Don't worry about anything whatever" (Philippians 4:6, PHILLIPS).
- "In everything make your requests known to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving. Then the peace of God... will guard your hearts" (Philippians 4:6,7, NEB).
- "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me... and you will find rest" (Matthew 11:29, NIV).
- "Peace is my parting gift to you, my own peace, such as the world cannot give" (John 14 27, NEB).
- "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" (Colossians 3:15, NIV).
- "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing" (Romans 15:13, KJV).
- "Cast all your cares on him for you are his charge" (1 Peter 5:7, NEB).

"Grant, O Lord my God, that I may never fall away in success or in failure; that I may not be prideful in prosperity nor dejected in adversity. Let me rejoice only in what unites us and sorrow only in what separates us. May I strive to please no one or fear to displease anyone except Yourself. May I seek always the things that are eternal and never those that are only temporal. May I shun any joy that is without You and never seek any that is beside You. O Lord, may I delight in any work I do for You and tire of any rest that is apart from You. My God, let me direct my heart towards You, and in my failings, always repent with a purpose of amendment."

--St. Thomas Aquinas

Lazy.

"Here, then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy." -R. C. Sproul

I love a good quote.

Matt Chandler busted out a great D.A. Carson quote during his sermon at the Pastor's Conference at the SBC. Check it-

"People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." - D.A. Carson

The Power of Darkness.

When the chief priests, temple officers, and elders came to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus, they succeeded only because a sovereign God permitted them to succeed. Jesus pointed out that He was teaching daily in the Temple, yet they never laid a finger on Him. Now they were after Him with swords and staves. "But this is your hour, and the power of darkness is yours" (Lk 22:53 JBP). Who gave them that hour? Who allowed them the power to capture Him? It was God, without whose leave not even a sparrow can fall to the ground. God is omnipotent, never slumbering, just, righteous, and forever in control. He was not taken by surprise. All was working then, as it is always working, into a pattern for good.

Our own difficulties often appear to be random. Our tragedies look wildly uncontrolled. They are not. They are subject. Limits are set. God is quietly at work, standing in the shadows, ceaselessly watching over His children.

"The light shines on in the dark, and the darkness has never mastered it" (Jn l:5 NEB).

From Elisabeth Elliot

Back to the Future.

Post from Reid Ward of Legacy Ministries:

I have been talking to several churches the past few weeks who are at various stages of transitioning from a more traditional silo ministry model, where they have the various ministries of the church divided so that their ministry elements rarely come in contact with each other, to a family equipping model, where the various ministries of the church function together under the common goal and purpose of multi-generational discipleship and missions and ultimately generational faithfulness. A main common denominator in many of these churches is the struggle they have communicating what the transition means and what it should look like to the leadership and the congregation. One of the main reasons why this seems so difficult to communicate is that most churches see themselves as family friendly places. They promote family values and preach and teach a basically biblical view of the family, and many even have a family ministry silo.
It is a challenge to communicate how our false equation between activity and spiritual growth causes stress on the already overloaded schedules of families, and how we inadvertently divide families up in the church parking lot—never to see each other again until they get in the car to return home. In many of these same churches, there is an unspoken generational arrogance that actually pits senior adults against young adults and parents against children. They can not see the difference between having disconnected ministries for children, youth, young adults, adults and senior adults, and having a vision for ministry that connects those various ministry emphases with the idea of passing down a spiritual heritage from one generation to the next through personal and family discipleship, worship and missions.
That is why the work that we are doing with these churches is so important. Legacy is able to help leaders communicate the values and vision that under-gird a true family ministry discipleship model. We are able to help communicate to parents their biblical role as primary spiritual leaders in the lives of their children and the practical elements and benefits of fulfilling that role. We are able to help them restructure their ministries under one consistent vision for reaching generations for Christ, and to reorient the various ministry elements within the various specialized ministries in order to facilitate a real partnership between the church and the home for the spiritual well-being of the families that make up the church family.
Thank you for being a part of this work with us for the glory of God.

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YES! YES! YES! I am such a fan on Legacy Ministries and what they do and what they are about. This is just a tiny glimpse of the heart of their ministry. To find out more go to: http://www.legacyleadershipministry.org/

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Thought for the Week

"Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel." (Exodus 12:15)

Commentary

The sacrifice of the Passover lambs in Egypt was like training for the Israelites. It prepared the children of Israel to better appreciate the Temple rituals that God would teach them later. It prepared them to understand the efficacy of Yeshua's suffering and death. If you have ever trained for an athletic event, you know that going through the exercise one time is not sufficient. Real training requires regular repetition.

The LORD instituted a regimen of repetition by commanding the Israelites to commemorate the Passover sacrifice every year. He commanded them to annually sacrifice a lamb in remembrance of the lambs they sacrificed in Egypt. The blood of that lamb was no longer to be applied to their doorposts--instead it was applied to the altar in God's Temple in Jerusalem.¹ So long as the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing, the Jewish people brought sacrificial lambs to God's altar on the anniversary of the day their ancestors sacrificed the lambs in Egypt.

Today, lamb is not served at Passover because sacrifices cannot be made without a Temple.² However, the other ritual foods are still eaten at the Passover meal. God commanded the Israelites to eat the lambs with bitter herbs and unleavened bread in memory of the meal in Egypt. The annual meal of lamb and bitter herbs was called the Passover seder. In the days of the apostles, the whole family reclined at the table to celebrate Passover and eat the ritual foods while they passed the story of their salvation to the next generation. The roasted lamb reminded the Jewish people of the Passover sacrifice in Egypt. The unleavened bread reminded the Jewish people that their ancestors had left Egypt in such haste that they did not have time to allow their bread to rise before baking it. The bitter herbs and the practice of dipping unleavened bread in sop reminded the Jewish people of the bitter lives their ancestors endured in Egypt.

In those days, the noblemen all reclined when eating while their slaves ate standing, ready to serve them. In the days of the apostles, the participants in the Passover seder reclined at the table to remind themselves that, thanks to Passover, they were now freemen and no longer slaves.

The Passover meal initiates an annual seven-day festival called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Throughout the seven days of the festival, leavened grain products are completely forbidden. Instead the LORD commands us to eat unleavened bread throughout the seven days. The Hebrew word for unleavened bread is matzah (מצה). The first and last days of the festival are special holiday Sabbaths. The entire seven-day festival is called Hag HaMatzah (המצה הג), which means "The Festival of Unleavened Bread."

From First Fruits of Zion- http://www.ffoz.org

Orders and blessings.

“Thy creator is thy redeemer! One great cause of feebleness and backsliding in the Christian life is the power of circumstances. We often say temptations that come to us from our position in life, from the struggle to live, from the conduct of our fellow men, draw us away from God, and are the cause of our falling into sin. If we believed that our redeemer is our creator! He knows us: He appoints and orders our lot; nothing comes to us but what He has in His hands. He has the power to make our circumstances, however difficult, a heavenly discipline, a gain and a blessing. Did we but believe this, how we should gladly meet every event with worship of an adoring faith. My Creator, who orders all, is my Redeemer, who blesses all.” -Andrew Murray

Sudan Global Day of Prayer

PRAYER REQUESTS FOR MARCH 28, 2010
24 Hours of Prayer and Fasting

1. “Sixty churches in Juba have been praying since March 21, and over 600 Churches in Khartoum are praying,” reported Pastor James in Sudan. “Christians will gather in open spaces on March 28 and have all-night prayer until March 29.” Please pray for Pastor James and other believers in Sudan.

2. The election in Sudan is scheduled for April 11-13, with the final results announced on April 18. Pray for a peaceful, fair, and free election process nationwide.

3. Pray that media outlets will provide reliable information about candidates and issues that will help voters make wise decisions.

4. Many pastors lack formal theological training. Pray for ministries and denominations that
are building Bible schools and seminaries. Pray that the 36 students who recently graduated from Heiban Bible College will be effective church leaders.

5. Political stability within the oil-rich regions of Abyei, Southern Blue Nile, Southern Kordofan, and the Nuba Mountains is critical as the 2011 referendum on independence for southern Sudan approaches. Pray that border disputes and other issues will be resolved before 2011.

6. As many as 300,000 people have died as a result of battles between warring factions in Darfur. Pray for the success of efforts to broker peace agreements between the Government of Sudan and rebel alliances represented by the Justice and Equality Movement, the Liberty and Justice Movement, and other armed groups.

7. About 40 percent of Sudanese families do not have access to safe drinking water. Pray for well drilling and water treatment projects that are being coordinated by various relief and development agencies.

8. Oil revenues account for an estimated 98 percent of southern Sudan’s non-aid income. Pray that oil production revenues will continue to help restore infrastructures that were destroyed during years of civil war.

9. A Ugandan guerrilla group that calls itself the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) regularly raids villages in southern Sudan, killing civilians and capturing slaves. Pray that the LRA will be defeated and that its leader, Joseph Kony, will be captured.

10. Hundreds of churches were destroyed during Sudan’s civil war. Pray for church rebuilding projects promoted by denominational agencies and ministries like Samaritan’s Purse, which has rebuilt 369 churches.

11. Thousands of people lack adequate healthcare in Sudan. Pray for more medical facilities like Kurmuk Hospital, which serves over 220,000 people in Southern Blue Nile state.

12. “Pray with us against the spirit of tribalism, where people only vote for candidates from their own tribe, without considering the quality of the person.” Pastor Simon Ayambu

13. Vocational training and livelihoods programs are helping men and women find work and produce income for their families. Pray that more adults will receive training and tools that help them find work and start small businesses.

14. Eighty percent of Sudan’s workforce is involved in agricultural production and subsistence farming. Pray for agricultural programs that provide struggling farmers with seeds, hand tools, plows, and training in crop production.

15. Thousands of Sudanese children meet under shade trees for classes at local schools, without any workbooks or supplies. Pray for an expansion of school-building and educational programs in Sudan.

16. Livestock exports are the second most important source of foreign revenue for Sudan, behind oil. Pray for animal husbandry programs that are helping farmers in Southern Blue Nile, North Darfur, and other areas learn how to care for livestock and produce healthier animals.

17. Illiteracy among women runs as high as 84 percent in some areas of the Sudan. Pray for the growing number of international agencies that are promoting adult literacy projects for women and men throughout Sudan.

18. Pray for political stability and peace in neighboring nations including Egypt, Libya, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.

19. Pray for ministries that are providing Bibles and New Testaments for distribution in Sudan. Samaritan’s Purse helped distribute 260,600 Scriptures in six languages, and establish 10,600 Bible reading groups. Pray that lives will be transformed through the study of God’s Word.

20. Following two decades of civil war, more than 2 million landmines may still be buried in Sudan. Pray for successful de-mining efforts by government agencies and international groups working in Sudan

21. Pray that freedom of religion will be maintained as the country transitions through the April elections and the 2011 referendum on independence for southern Sudan.

22. International aid workers have been kidnapped and even killed in Darfur and other unstable regions where rebel groups are active. Pray for protection for workers involved in various relief and development projects throughout Sudan.

23. UNICEF and the World Health Organization are vaccinating 6 million Sudanese children against polio. Pray for efforts nationwide to immunize children against polio and other crippling, but preventable childhood diseases.

24. “Pray for Sudan’s general elections which are scheduled to take place in April. Pray that the election campaigns will be peaceful.” – Pastor Anthony Poggo

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

As Sudan prepares for historic presidential and parliamentary elections, Samaritan's Purse and church leaders in Sudan are calling on believers across the nation and around the world to participate in a week of prayer March 21-27, culminating with a Sudan Global Day of Prayer on March 28.

“Churches nationwide are mobilizing prayer,” said Pastor James, a church leader in Khartoum. “We are praying that everything will run smoothly. We are praying for the nation of Sudan.”

More than two million people died in Sudan's civil war before the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed five years ago. The 2005 accord ushered in an uneasy truce, tied to a promise that the people of southern Sudan would be allowed to participate in national elections in 2010 and vote in a referendum on independence in 2011.

Free and fair elections in April could help lay a foundation for lasting peace. However, if violence erupts it could start a chain reaction that plunges the nation back into civil war.

Government and church leaders in both the North and South agree that prayer is the key to maintaining peace in Sudan. Please join us in praying daily for Sudan the week of March 21-27, concluding on the Sudan Global Day of Prayer on Palm Sunday, March 28.

Forget about His will for your life.

I think dwelling on God’s plan for the future often excuses us from faithful and sacrificial living now. It tends to create a safe zone of sorts, where we can sit around and have “spiritual” conversations about what God “might” have planned for our lives. Thinking, questioning, and talking take the place of letting the Spirit affect our immediate actions in radical ways. God wants to see His children stake everything on His power and presence in their lives.

From "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan.

World Vision.

Email I recieved from World Vision:

Dear Friend,

It is with a sad heart that I write to you about a terrible loss to the World Vision family. Six staff members were killed in a brutal and senseless attack on our offices in the Mansehra District of Pakistan. Additionally, eight employees are hospitalized with injuries after the unprovoked assault by gunmen. Four of the staff have been released from the hospital.

Our work in Pakistan is conducted by local citizens. We remember those staff who died as dedicated workers seeking to improve the lives of people affected by poverty and disasters. World Vision has temporarily suspended our operations in Pakistan, but we remain committed to helping children, families, and communities in this country.

As World Vision mourns our colleagues, we ask you to join us in praying for the families of our staff members and the people they serve in Pakistan, including those who respond to kindness with violence.

God bless,
Rich Stearns
President, World Vision U.S.

Expiation.

A friend of mine was sharing with me all the different books in his personal library. He shared with me this passage in "Death by Love" by Mark Driscoll. Expiation is the idea that the blood of Jesus cleanses believers from the shame of sin. I pray that as you read this, you are reminded of the cleansing power of the gospel of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

"A friend of mine had been married to a woman he dearly loved for many years. Yet they were never as close and intimate as he desired, and he could not figure out why. It was because his wife... was filled with shame. She had been molested as a girl, raped as a young woman, and promiscuous throughout much of her teen years. She even cheated on her husband during her engagement and did not share these shameful, dark secrets with him. After many years, she finally told her husband who she truly was, what she had truly done, and what had been truly done to her.

The truth devastated her husband, who would have never married her had he known of her infidelity during their engagement and possibly would have walked away form her as damaged goods had he only known about the many times she was molested as a young girl, raped as a young woman, and promiscuous in her teens. At this point she feared that her husband would leave her and want nothing to do with her. Then he did the unthinkable: he left their home, and she did not know where he was going or if he would ever return.

Because he knew the gospel of Jesus Christ, though, he went to the store and purchased for a new, clean white nightgown. He returned home and asked her to undress in front of him and clothe herself in white, which she did. He then said that he had chose to see her not by what she had done or by what had been done to her, but instead solely by what Jesus had done for her to forgive her sin and cleanse her filth. He embraced her and prayer for her, and she wept tears that purified her soul as her sin was scorned by the love Jesus and her husband, who was filled with the Spirit of God."

Savoring our highest treasure.

"The ultimate good of the gospel is seeing and savoring the beauty and value of God. God’s wrath and our sin obstruct that vision and that pleasure. You can’t see and savor God as supremely satisfying while you are full of rebellion against Him and He is full of wrath against you. The removal of this wrath and this rebellion is what the gospel is for. The ultimate aim of the gospel is the display of God’s glory and the removal of every obstacle to our seeing it and savoring it as our highest treasure. “Behold Your God!” is the most gracious command and the best gift of the gospel. If we do not see Him and savor Him as our greatest fortune, we have not obeyed or believed the gospel."

"Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel."

From "God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself" by John Piper

Live exegetically.

From "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan. I have rearranged a few points but you'll get the concept.

Exegesis: an attempt to discover the meaning of the text objectively, starting with the text and moving out form there.

Eisegesis: to import a subjective, preconceived meaning into the text.

I was taught to interpret the Scriptures through exegesis alone. Start with God’s Word; pray that the Spirit gives you clarity; then study to see what the text actually says. The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible, so who better to help us as we seek to understand it? Scripture tells us that the Spirit not only inspired the Bible, but also illumines it for us today (1 Corinthians 2:12-16 and 2 Timothy 3:16).

The word exegesis comes from a Greek word meaning “to lead out”. As I have said, you start with the text and draw out its meaning. Eisegesis, on the other hang, is when you start with an idea or conviction, then search for verses in the Bible to prove your point. I was warned against eisegesis, and rightly so. The danger in this is that we can take verses out of context to support just about any point of view. For years people have used this style of interpretation in order to justify greed, lust, divorce, and countless other sins. Cults also use eisegesis to justify their beliefs.

The bottom line is that we can easily pursue just about any lifestyle we desire, then find Scriptures to show everyone it’s all right to live that way. I believe many people have eisegetically formed concepts. In essence, we have cut and pasted whatever verses and ideas work for us.

But what would it look like to live exegetically? If we were to start with Scripture and allow it to dictate our actions, how would we live?

Hope and Desire.

I read this yesterday and felt like I should share..

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From JR Vassar
http://jrvassar.posterous.com/

December 16, 2009
Thinking of my friend Matt Chandler and the difference between Hope and Desire

I write this today because I need to. I need to tell myself these things. I just read the pathology report from the Village Church on Matt Chandler (http://ow.ly/MM81). I have known Matt for many years and love and respect him deeply. I am praying for him and for his sweet wife Lauren, and their kiddos, and the Village. And, I am praying with this in mind: there is a difference between desire and hope.

I am praying with great desire. My desire is that God would heal Matt, hand him to Lauren and the kids to be her husband and their daddy, restore him to the pulpit, empower him to preach his heart out for the magnification of Jesus, and one day let him play with his grandkids. I think God wants me to desire those things and ask Him for them, knocking until my knuckles bleed, making it clear to God how I desire Him to respond. And, those desires are good. But those desires are different than our hope.

Sometimes desires are not fulfilled. But, our hope is. Hope does not disappoint us (Romans 5:5). Our hope is certain and sure. Our hope is that none who trust in Him will ever ultimately be put to shame. Our hope is that in Jesus we are forgiven, given his Spirit, adopted as sons and daughters of God, and will one day be revealed as such (Romans 8:14-16; 1John 3:2-3). Our hope is that Jesus has defeated our greatest enemies of Satan, Sin, and Death and through Him we will triumph (Romans 8:37). Our hope is that God is sovereignly moving heaven and earth to secure the good of his elect and bring about their glory and joy (Romans 8:28). Our hope is that we who are in Christ are the eternal objects of God's love and that nothing, absolutely nothing, can change that status or rob us of its privileges (Romans 8:38-39). Our hope is that these momentary and light afflictions are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2Cor 4:16-17); that the things we suffer are not worth comparing to the glory that God will reveal to us (Romans 8:18). Our hope is that God will not leave us nor forsake us so that even as we experience ten thousand shadows of death come over us, we shall not fear because He is with us (Psalm 23). Our hope is that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us into his presence (2Cor 4:14). Our hope is that if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united to him in a resurrection like His (Romans 6:5). And, our hope is that Christ, who is our great treasure, will be exalted as such whether by life or by death (Philippians 1:20). This is Matt's hope. He knows this hope; he lives this hope; he preaches this hope. Lauren knows and lives this hope as well, and Matt is blessed to have her at his side.

I just needed to tell myself that today. I need to remember that as I voice desires to be fulfilled and as I plead with the "God who is able," for Matt's strength and healing and restoration, I must not confuse my desire and my hope. I am holding tightly to hope and finding my comfort in the God of Hope. Praying we all will. Apostles Church will be praying for the Chandlers.

Chandler.

From The Village Church-

Dear church,

In the first chapter of Philippians, the Apostle Paul writes that whatever imprisonments, beatings and trials he may have suffered, they all “serve to advance the gospel” of Jesus Christ. We implore you to keep the gospel of Christ as the main focus as we walk with Matt and Lauren through this trial.

On Tuesday, Dr. Barnett informed Matt and Lauren that the findings of the pathology report revealed a malignant brain tumor that was not encapsulated. The surgery to remove the tumor, the doctor said, was an extremely positive first step; however, because of the nature of the tumor, he was not able to remove all of it.

Matt, who is being released from the hospital today, is meeting with a neuro-oncologist this week to outline the next steps of the recovery process. There is a range of treatment possibilities but the exact course of action has not yet been determined. He will continue outpatient rehab.

The Lord is calling Matt and Lauren and The Village Church body to endure this trial. It will be a challenging road for Matt, his family and our church body. The gospel is our hope and the Lord is our strength. Matt and Lauren continue to find solace and hope in Christ. They weep facing this trial, but not as those without hope and perspective. The gospel clarifies their suffering and promises more of Christ through it all.

You have done a wonderful job respecting the family, and we ask that you continue to do this. They are processing all of this together and need you to give them precious space. Please do not visit them at their house unless personally invited by the Chandlers. The best way to serve the family is to continue to be faithful in prayer. Specifically, pray for the following:

* Wisdom for all the coming decisions
* Strength and peace to endure
* The kids’ (Audrey, Reid and Norah) hearts; pray the Lord is merciful as they process and that their little hearts do not grow embittered
* The Chandlers and The Village would suffer well because of the gospel and for the sake of Christ’s name

As you hurt and weep for the family, do not do it alone. Gather with your home group and with other believers in homes and pray together. This is a time to walk together with others and to endure this trial in community. If you wish, send cards and letters to Matt and Lauren at 2101 Justin Road, Flower Mound, TX 75028.

We will continue to keep you informed as new information is made available. Please be patient with the frequency of the updates. May God strengthen us all and may His glory shine brightly through this.

Glorification: Conformed to Christ for the Supremacy of Christ

I've been praying a lot lately about different things going on in my life and God keeps bringing to mind Romans 8:28 for a couple of those things. I found this sermon and have been trying to soak it in with the scriptures and am trying to impliment it into my life. ENJOY!

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Romans 8:28-30

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Ponder with me one of the implications of the "for" ("because") at the beginning of verse 29. This word means that verse 29 and the following verses are a support, or an argument, or a foundation, or ground, or basis for the promise in verse 28. In other words, Paul writes verse 29 so that you will be more confident in the promise of verse 28. I promise you, God says, that all the hard things in your life will work together for your good, because I foreknew you and predestined you and called you and justified you and glorified you. So be strong and take risks and go to the hard places of need and show the world by your love that you trust God and his promises more than wealth or weapons of police or alarm systems or good neighborhoods or available medical care.

Why Are There Arguments and Not Just Raw Authority?
But here's the question: If God never lies, and if he promises in verse 28 that everything will work together for our good, then how is our faith in this promise made any stronger by a ground in verses 29-30? I mean, God has spoken in verse 28 and God is God, and his word is infallible and unbreakable. Shouldn't we just believe it because he said it? Why does Paul give arguments? How do arguments for something God has said make our confidence stronger?

Before I try to answer that question, be sure you see the significance of it. It's really a question of why we have the kind of Bible we do. God could have given us a list of affirmations about his nature and his character and a list of commandments to do. It certainly would have been a lot shorter. But instead he gave us (for example in Romans) long, complex arguments and explanations and reasonings. In the gospels he gave us narrative of Jesus' deeds and collections of Jesus' teachings and provocative groups of parables. In the Old Testament he gave us sweeping overviews of Israel's history and accounts of the origin of the world, and glimpses into the inner lives of psalmists and powerful visions and sermons of the prophets and collections of proverbs.

What's the point of all this lavish special revelation of the ways of God in the world? That's the question we are really asking when we ask, "Why does Paul buttress Romans 8:28 with an argument in verses 29-30?" Why not just tell us what God promises to do for us and count on faith to be strong in holding to the promise?

Faith Is a Response to the Revelation of Light
The answer — at least a very important part of the answer — is that faith is not a leap in the dark, but a response to the revelation of light. If faith were grounded on nothing more than raw authority, then the Bible would not have been written the way it is, and the history of redemption would not have been planned the way it was. Faith is not based merely on raw authority (like: "God said verse 28 so believe it. Period! No basis needed! No arguments required!"). Faith is not a response to raw authority; faith is a response to the revelation of light. Not physical light, but spiritual light.

Let's turn to 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 to see this and to launch us further into our text today. What Paul says in these verses is that the gospel of Christ is the revelation of this spiritual light. He calls it two things, one in verse 4 and another in verse 6. Verse 4: "The god of this world (I think that is Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see (!) the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." So there is "seeing" necessary for salvation. When Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, "We walk by faith and not by sight," he means physical sight, not this spiritual sight in 2 Corinthians 4:4. The light we must see to be saved is the "light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

When the gospel is preached we must see Christ in it as glorious, indeed, as the image of God himself. This is why the four gospels, for example, are not one-sentence books: "Christ is glorious and Christ is God." True! But faith in this Christ is NOT a response of raw authority or a leap in the dark. It is a response to the light of glory in the person and work of Christ. Therefore the person and work of Christ are lavishly displayed in four gospels and Acts and epistles and Revelation.

This is why Paul says in verse 5, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake." Preaching ourselves would not help you see Christ. Preaching Christ as Lord and putting ourselves in the lowly position of slaves, that's what will help you see the glory of Christ so that you have sure foundation under your faith.

Then in verse 6 he describes in a different way this same spiritual light of verse 4. He says, "For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." This is the same reality as the light in verse 4, but with different words. According to verse 4 we must see "the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." And according to verse 6 we must see "the glory of God in the face of Christ." The "glory of God" is the "glory of Christ," and the "image of God" is in "the face of Christ" — which I take to mean the portrait of his whole being — his character, his nature, his person.

Here's the point: faith is not a leap in the dark. There is light all over these verses. Faith is a response to the light of God's revelation of himself in Christ in history, especially in the gospel. Therefore, to help people come to faith, and to sustain and strengthen our own faith, we need to know (notice the word "knowledge" in verse 26, "light of the knowledge of the glory of God") — we need to know the way Christ acted, what he did, what he said, how he thought, how he spoke, how he suffered, and how all this was working out the plans of God. This is the way the glory of Christ shines out for us to see. And this seeing is the way faith comes into being and the way it is sustained and strengthened.

The Connection with Romans 8:29
Now here's the connection with Romans 8:29. Paul wants us to have faith in the promise of Romans 8:28 — that God will work all things for your good — so that we will be radical, risk-taking, loving, sacrificial, Christians with a wartime mentality. But he knows that faith is based not on raw authority of mere statements. It rises in response to the revelation of God's glory. This is why he does what he does in verses 29-30, he shows us some of the ways of God. He gives us a spectacular glimpse into the sovereign, saving work of God from eternity to eternity — from the foreknowing-foreloving-forechoosing of eternity past, to the final glorifying of his people in eternity future. Seeing the glorious work of God in Christ in verses 29 is not just incidental information; it is the revelation of who God is, how God acts, how God loves and saves and keeps. The point of it is to display the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in Christ. And to make our faith in the promise of Romans 8:28 something it could never be without it. So rivet your gaze on the glory of God in the acts of Romans 8:29-30.

Now there are two more questions about this revelation in verses 29-30 that I want to deal with this morning before we move ahead into verses 31ff next week. One is this: Why is "sanctification" not mentioned in the chain that leads from foreknowledge to glorification? And the other is: Why does Paul say (in verse 29) that the aim of our predestination is not merely to be conformed to the image of God's Son, but it is "so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren"?

Why Is Sanctification Not Mentioned in the Chain?
First, where is "sanctification" in the chain of these verses? You recall what "sanctification" is. It was the theme of chapter six. Remember verse 22: "But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life." So sanctification is the gradual process of our becoming holy which leads to eternal life.

Why is it not mentioned in this unbreakable chain in Romans 8:29-30? Paul mentions five links in the chain: Those whom he (1) foreknew he predestined; and those whom he (2) predestined he called; and those whom he (3) called, he justified; and those whom he (4) justified, he (5) glorified. Why didn't he say, "And those whom he justified he sanctified, and those whom he sanctified he glorified"?

The reason this matters is that someone might say, "Well, since it's not in the chain, it's either not necessary for heaven like the others, or it is not the work of God the way the others are. Both of those inferences would be a deadly mistake. Sanctification is necessary for heaven. That is why Romans 6:22 says that the outcome of your sanctification is eternal life! (See Hebrews 12:14; Galatians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:9). And that makes it all the more important that it is indeed God's work in us, so that the necessity of it doesn't throw us back on ourselves. It throws us desperately on God.

For example, Paul says in Philippians 1:6, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." And Philippians 2:12b-13, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." And 1 Corinthians 15:10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me."

So sanctification is both necessary and the work of God. So why is it not mentioned between justification and glorification. I think the reason is that in Paul's mind sanctification is included in glorification. So, in effect, he does make it part of the chain. Now why do I think this? What's the Biblical basis for it?

It comes from 2 Corinthians 3:18. Paul describes here how we are changed into the likeness of Christ — that is how we are sanctified. It happens by looking to Christ — the spiritual sight we talked about earlier (note the context!). He says, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."

Now what is so relevant in this verse for us is the word "glory." Our gradual change into the image of Christ is, Paul says, a moving "from glory to glory." And he says this is from the Lord. This is essentially the work of the Lord. So being glorified in Paul's mind is not only the final transformation at the end of the age at the resurrection when we get out new bodies; it is also the process of moving morally and spiritually toward that goal.

So in Paul's mind, when he said in Romans 8:30, "the justified are glorified" he meant, God works to make sure that those whom he justified move from one degree of glory to the next (sanctification) and finally reach perfection with new and glorious bodies like Christ's (Hebrews 12:23; Philippians 3:21). So your progressive sanctification — your becoming like Jesus — is as sure and as firmly planned and worked by God as is your election and predestination and calling and justification and final glory.

Why Is the Goal That Christ Would Be "Firstborn Among Many Brethren"?
Which leads naturally to the last question: Clearly verse 29 says that the aim of our predestination is our likeness to Christ. So sanctification is here in verse 29 as well. "Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son." So your holiness, your sanctification, your becoming like Jesus is God's aim for your life from eternity. Predestination means: Predestined to become like Jesus. That is what you should be giving yourself to. Pray and study and fight and suffer and trust to be like Jesus.

Now my question is, Why does Paul go on to say, ". . . so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren." Colossians 1:18 gives the answer: "He is the beginning, the firstborn (same word as in Romans 8:29, prwto,tokon) from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." Christ died and rose from the dead as the firstborn of many siblings so that he would be seen and enjoyed by them and by others as preeminent, superior, gloriously great.

In other words, our destiny to be like Christ is all about being prepared to see and savor his superiority. We must have his character and likeness to know him and see him and love him and admire him and make much of him. By adding the words, "that He would be the firstborn among many brethren," Paul makes plain that Christ is ever and always supreme above us, and that we must be holy in order to be with him and enjoy him forever.

Test Yourself
Without these final words in verse 29, O how easily we would slip into a man-centered view of sanctification that make us and our likeness to Christ the ultimate goal. It is a goal. But it is not the ultimate goal. The exaltation of Christ is the ultimate goal. So consider some questions to test yourself as we close. Are pursuing your own glory or Christ's? Take some attributes of Christ that we might pursue.

Do I want to be strong like Christ, so I will be admired as strong, or so that I can defeat every adversary that would entice me to settle for any pleasure less than admiring the strongest person in the universe, Christ?
Do I want to be wise like Christ, so I will be admired as wise and intelligent, or so that I can discern and admire the One who is most truly and all-satisfyingly wise?
Do I want to be holy like Christ, so that I can be admired as holy, or so that I can be free from all unholy inhibitions that keep me from seeing and savoring the holiness of Christ?
Do I want to be loving like Christ, so I will be admired as a loving person, or so that I will enjoy extending to others, even in sufferings, the all-satisfying love of Christ?
Everything in these verses — all of God's work, his choosing you, predestining you, calling you, justifying you, sanctifying you, bringing you to final glory — is designed by God not mainly to make much of us, but to free us and fit us to enjoy making much of Christ forever.

So I plead with you: Set your mind's attention and your heart's affection on the glory of Christ so that you will be changed from glory to glory into his image, so that you might fully enjoy what you were made for — making much of Christ.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

The Plague of Experience over Doctrine

As the church has entered the postmodern era, historic Biblical teaching has fallen by the wayside and new theologies have taken their place. These ‘new theologies’ downplay the value of scripture and shifts the focus on emotionalism and experiential Christianity (“feeling God, entering into a place with God, feeling His presence, trying to enter into His glory, soaking, gold dust”) instead of Christianity based on truth (what is clearly taught in Scripture).

What makes us feel good is not the measure of truth anymore, but a mystical experience! Feelings sway with the wind of circumstances but the truth of God’s Word stands as a solid rock that does not change whether times are good or times are bad. Those who are founded upon the rock will never be moved even if the world around them falls apart. As biblical teaching is pushed aside, people are no longer standing strong in the Lord. This is the main reason why some believers are frustrated in their faith or are having a faith crisis (up one day and down the next and never being able to over come sin). To remedy this problem they seek multiple experiences not taught in Scripture which often leaves them “wanting more” and never satisfied.

Here are some examples of popular Christian authors teaching experience over sound doctrine in their books. Not only are these unbiblical experiences written in books being sold to millions, but some of us hear these same unbiblical teachings in our own churches.

Unbiblical teaching: “Post-moderns want something more than new products; they want new experiences, especially new experiences of the divine.”
(Leonard Sweet, Soul Tsunami, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, p.420)

What does the Bible say about this:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” – 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Unbiblical teaching: “The old paradigm taught that if you had the right teaching, you will experience God. The new paradigm says that if you experience God, you will have the right teaching.”
(Leith Anderson, A Church for the 21st Century, p.21)

What does the Bible say about this:

If we have the right teaching- the truth of God’s Word then YES we will experience God the way He intended! Some believers don’t want this, but something else. This is why we are warned: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed ato deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,”
– 1 Timothy 4:1

Unbiblical teaching: “We should be returning to a no-holds-barred approach to worship and teaching so that when we gather, thereis no doubt we are in the presence of a Holy God. I believe that both believers and unbelievers in this emerging culture are hungry for this. It isn’t about clever apologetics or careful exegetical and expository preaching or great worship bands… Emerging generations are hungering to experience God in worship.”
(Dan Kimball, The Emerging Church, p.127)

“What would happen if we allowed people to “feel” what we cannot explain, to know with the heart and not with the brain? We would open the door of faith to a wider audience than if we continued to insist on a rational belief in the facts as the only legitimate starting point of the Christian faith.”
(Chuck Smith Jr., There is a Season, Waterbrook Press, 2001, p.106)

What does the Bible say about this:

Quite a bit and sadly this is what we are “feeling after.”

“If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.” – 1 Timothy 4:6-7

“Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”
– 1 Timothy 4:13

“in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,” – Titus 2:7 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
– Acts 2:42 “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.”
– Romans 16:17-18

This is dangerous because instead of “feeling and experiencing God” they are experiencing and feeling the deception of the demonic. We have NO right to go beyond what Scripture teaches!

Scripture NEVER teaches us to focus on worship (as in experiencing God mystically) as proof of our transformation in the soul or an abiding in Christ. Nor does it teach us to “experience God” by way of feeling, but by way of KNOWING and absolute trust in what God has said.

“For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” – Romans 10:13-17

The TRUTH is no longer being embraced or taught and this prohibits spiritual maturity. In fact, very few have any concept of an immovable truth or even what spiritual maturity is all about. Unless a preacher or teacher stirs the hearts of believers with the truth, very few will ever go beyond their Sunday morning dose of emotional excitement. There is so much more to Christianity than getting an emotional charge and claiming self-centered requests from the Lord. Without understanding truth – all of the truth, Christians will be dwarfed in their growth and never experience the true things of God.

The rich things of God will NOT be found on Sunday morning (or whenever we worship the Lord together for experiences), but are for those who seek Him with their lives. If the better things of the Christian life are prepared for those who seek Him, why don’t we hear these things from the pulpits of the church today? Sunday school material has been watered down to the point of almost becoming irrelevant and the truth of scripture has been replaced with world philosophies and feel good messages. Where is SOUND DOCTRINE!

Sound doctrine in nowadays is devalued. Preachers and most believers think that the TRUTH of God’s Word is “played out” and it has to be twisted to appeal to people or to make it “more relevant”. We are taught to have a relationship with Jesus through experiences and not doctrine. Statements “Doctrine is not important in Christianity. Nothing is important but having a relationship with Christ”, is further from the truth. This can be made to sound good if presented with passion and this philosophy is packaged in many ways, but it is a completely false statement. In fact, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have a deep relationship with Jesus Christ without doctrine.

Look at Jesus’ statements in John 14:

John 14: 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

John 14: 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

If you do not know the word, you cannot keep the word. If you do not keep the commandments of scripture, you do not love God regardless of how emotional you get and how spirited our time of worship becomes. Keeping the Word of God is the evidence that the love of God is in our hearts and that we truly experience Him and have a real and authentic relationship with Him. The teaching of experience over doctrine has influenced the church through the emergent church movement, the seeker sensitive movement and various books and devotionals that have a pretense of sounding inspirational but are desperately lacking in truth. As teachers and preachers are influenced by these books and spend less time in the word, the postmodern thought seeps its way into their messages and are preached to a congregation that is also lacking in understanding. This is how it spreads folks! Ignorance of truth is an open door to sinful doctrines and ungodly philosophies; however, you have the God-given power and responsibility to search out truth and expose doctrine. If you do not know God’s word, how can you keep God’s word? If you do not know God’s word, how can you know God? Sound doctrine is critical because it reveals to us how to know and relate to our Creator and Savior.

Doctrine over Experience, not Experience over Doctrine

Thirty-six times the importance of doctrine is stressed in scripture – and this is only the times that the word doctrine is used. There are many, many more times that the concept of sound doctrine is stressed by God throughout scripture. When something is stressed twice, this is intended to be an emphasis on its importance. If something is stressed 36 times, how can anyone say that it is not important? Not only can we see that it is important, but we can see that this is critical. The word ‘doctrine’ simply means the teachings of the scriptures. We are not talking about complicated theological concepts that professors argue over in a college classroom; we are talking about how God teaches us to relate to Him, live holy lives, inherit His promises and experience God to the fullest – through TRUTH and TRUST in His Word. If our only goal is to hear an inspirational message that makes us feel good and get through until next Sunday, any religion will do. However, if you want to experience God the Biblical way, sound doctrine is critical.

What do postmodern teachers mean when they preach experience over doctrine?

According to scripture, we cannot know God apart from His word. How do we experience Jesus if we are devoid of understanding? Not every Jesus presented to a congregation is the true Christ. The true Jesus calls for us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23-24), not to indulge in our flesh, rely on experiences and seek after them! Yet the Jesus many teach requires nothing from the seeker and allows our lives to continue unchanged even though Jesus said that unless we forsake all, we cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:33). By evading doctrine, we are teaching church members to disqualify themselves from discipleship while falsely claiming that they are disciples. Through doctrine we discover what true discipleship is and we learn how to experience God on a deeper level because we know the truth and we are growing in it.

Saints, let’s seek after God in His Word and NOT by experiences.

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Article from: http://praisedancecentralministries.wordpress.com/welcome-to-pdcm/the-plague-of-experience-over-doctrine

Passover

Passover is an opportune time to break with our past and start over as new creatures in Messiah. Passover is an annual reminder that we must leave the old culture behind.
Every Passover is a chance to start over. At Passover we remember that we have left our spiritual Egypt. We are free from the past, and we need to set aside those things in our lives that continue to enslave us. After all, starting over is what it means to be born again.

The Torah explains the significance of unleavened matzah bread in that the children of Israel did not have time to let their bread rise before they had to leave Egypt. They were in such a hurry that they only had time to bake the dough before leaving. To commemorate the exodus, leaven is removed at Passover and unleavened matzah bread is eaten for seven days.
Matzah refers to a special type of flat, cracker-like bread.
In order to be Passover matzah, the bread dough must be baked less than eighteen minutes after the flour is moistened with water. If the dough is not baked within eighteen minutes of being moistened, it begins to ferment from the naturally occurring leavening agents in the atmosphere.
In ancient times, there were only two ways to leaven bread dough. One way was to mix the flour with water and let it stand until it began to ferment naturally. More typically, a small batch of already leavened starter dough left over from the previous day's batch was tossed in with the flour and water. The old culture of leaven in the starter dough quickly spread through the new batch of dough. As the saying goes, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (1 Corinthians 5:6). By means of this method, a single culture of leaven was passed on from loaf to loaf to loaf, day to day. This is how sourdough bread is still made today.
The commandment to remove all leaven prior to the festival makes this second method of leavening impossible. The starter dough would have to be disposed of prior to the festival because it is already leavened. This is the imagery that the Apostle Paul is referring to when he says, "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). The old starter-dough leaven represents our old way of life. It is sin, godlessness, bad company, bad habits and all the things that taint our lives.
Like an old culture of leavened starter dough, those things continue to leaven our lives from day to day, conforming us to our past. Paul urges us to make a clean break with the old culture and to start over as a new batch, like unleavened bread.
When the children of Israel left Egypt, they were leaving behind their old culture. While in Egypt they had absorbed much of the wickedness and idolatry of Egyptian society. The unleavened bread symbolized a new beginning. They were starting over.