A Healthy Christian: Learning to Listen to God

I've found a new little book I want to hand out to everyone! I've mentioned Thabiti Anyabwile's recent book, What Is A Healthy Church Member? before. What a gem of a little book! If the local church is to be what God wants it to be, the individuals sitting in the pews need to have a clear idea of what God expects of them as individuals. Here's one element to start working on when you attend church this Sunday - "Learn to Be an Expositional Listener". Excerpted from this chapter ...

Expositional preaching uses the main point of the Bible passage, in its context, as the main point of the sermon. "If churches are to be healthy, then pastors and teachers must be committed to discovering the meaning of Scripture and allowing that meaning to drive the agenda with their congregations. So too should the Christian's listening agenda be driven by the meaning of Scripture. When we listen to the preaching of the Word, we should not listen primarily for "practical how-to advice," nor should we listen for messages that bolster our self-esteem or that rouse us to political and social causes. As members of Christian churches we should listen primarily for the voice and message of God as revealed in his Word. Expositional listening is listening for the meaning of a passage of Scripture and accepting that meaning as the main idea to be grasped for our personal and corporate lives.

Expositional listening benefits us by cultivating a hunger for God's Word. We grow accustomed to listening to God. His Word, his voice, becomes sweet to us (Ps.119:103-104) and as it does we are better able to push to the background the many voices that rival God's voice for control over our lives.

It helps us to focus on God's will and to follow him. Our agenda becomes secondary. God's agenda for his people takes center stage, reorders our priorities, and directs us in the course that most honors him. (John 10:27)

It protects the gospel and our lives from corruption. The failure to listen expositionally has disastrous effects. False teachers enter the church and hinder the gospel. Ultimately, the truth is displaced by myths and falsehoods. (Jude 1:3; 1Tim.3:15)

It encourages faithful pastors. Those men who serve faithfully in the minstry of the Word are worthy of double honor (1Tim.5:17). As church members, we can care for our pastors and teachers and help to prevent unnecessary discouragement and fatigue by cultivating the habit of expositional listening.

It benefits the gathered congregation. Repeatedly, the NT writers exhort local churches to be unified - to be of one mind. (1Cor.1:10; 1Pet.3:8) As we gather together in our local churches and give ourselves to hearing the voice of God through his preached Word, we're shaped into one body. We are united in understanding and purpose. And that unity testifies to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ (John 17:21).  But if we listen with our own interest and agendas in mind, if we develop "private interpretations" and idiosyncratic views, we risk shattering that unity, provoking disputes over doubtful matters, and weakening our corporate gospel."

Pastor Anyabwile gives Six Practical Steps you can take to become an "expositional listener":

1. Meditate On the Sermon Passage During Your Quiet Time. Read through the text ahead of time. Either ask the pastor what passage he intends to preach the next week or go to the next verses in the Book he's preaching his way through. "Outline the text in your own daily devotions and use it to inform your prayer life. Learning to outline Scripture is a wonderful way of digging out and exposing the meaning of a passage. You can then use your outline as a listening aid; compare it to the preacher's outline for new insights you missed in your own study."

2. Invest in a Good Set of Commentaries  "Study the Bible with John Calvin or Martin Lloyd-Jones by purchasing the commentaries on the books of the Bible as you read and study through them.. Let these scholars and pastors help you hear God's Word with a clear ear and discover its rich meaning. The Bible Speaks Today commentary series is an excellent starting place for those wanting to build a library of good commentaries."

3. Talk and Pray with Friends About the Sermon After Church  "Instead of rushing off after the service is over, or talking about the latest news, develop the habit of talking about the sermon with people after church. Start spiritual conversations by asking, "How did the Scripture challenge or speak to you today?" Or, "What about God's character most surprised or encouraged you?" Encourage others by sharing things you learned about God and his Word during the sermon. Make particular note of how your thinking has changed because of the meaning of Scripture itself. And pray with others that God would keep the congregation from becoming "dull of hearing" and that he would bless the congregation with an increasingly strong desire for the "solid food' of his Word (Isa.6:9-10; Heb.5:11-14)."

4. Listen To and Act On the Sermon Throughout the Week  "We  can cultivate the habit of expositional listening by listening to the sermon throughout the week and then acting upon it. Don't let the Sunday sermon become a one-time event that fades from memory as soon as it is over (James 1:22-25). Choose one or two particular applications from the Scripture and prayerfully put them into practice over the coming week." Listen to the audio ministry on your church's website. "Take advantage of these opportunities to feed your soul with the click of a mouse." Review the sermon in your family devotions that week. [At my daughter's church, the sermon is the subject of the Home Study that week.]

5. Develop the Habit of Addressing Any Questions About the Text Itself  "Jonathan Edwards resolved that he would never let a day end before he had answered any questions that troubled him or sprang to mind while he was studying the Scripture. How healthy would our churches be if members dedicated themselves to studying the Scripture with that kind of intentional effort and resolve? Follow up with your pastors, elders or other teachers in the church about questions triggered by the text. Moreover, don't be passive in your private study; seek answers by searching the Scripture yourself. But don't forget the pastor has likely spent more time than most in thinking about that passage and is there to feed you God's Word. Follow up the sermons with questions and comments that would be an encouragement to your pastor and a blessing to your soul."

6. Cultivate Humility  "As you dig into God's Word, listening for his voice, you will no doubt begin to grow and discover many wonderful treasures. But as you grow, do not become a "professional sermon listener" who is always hearing but never learning. Mortify any tendencies toward pride, the condemnation of others and critical nit-picking. Instead, seek to meet Jesus each time you come to the Scripture; gather from the Word fuel for all-of-life worship."

[May that little taste make you interested enough to read the entire book! That's just one area covered! You will mature in your Christian walk by learning to focus on and take heed to God's ideas. Don't make me buy you a copy!]

"Holiness: The Heart God Purifies" - Week #1 [Ch.1-2]

"Oh, God,

show me more of Your holiness.

Show me more of my sinfulness.

Help me to hate sin and to love righteousness as You do.

Grant me a deeper conviction of sin

and a more thorough spirit of repentance.

And make me holy as You are holy."

Thus begins Nancy Leigh DeMoss' book on holiness.  Reading through this book gives each of us an excellent opportunity to honestly examine ourselves. (1Cor.11:28; 2Cor.13:5)  Our sin nature makes us naturally good at examining others, but few are consistently good at pointing their finger where God wants it to be ... evaluating ourselves in light of who God is, what He HAS done and what He IS doing in our life.  He demanded holiness in the lives of His people Israel, those whom He had redeemed from bondage in Egypt (Lev.11:45) and He demands the same of Christians, those whom He has redeemed from bondage to sin (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:15-16).  By the end of this book, may we realize with DeMoss that "holiness and sin both matter"- more than we can imagine.  They matter to God, and the more we comprehend their true nature, the more they will matter to us."  For one who is spiritually united with Christ, to be holy is "to be wholly satisfied with Christ ... to reflect the beauty and the splendor of our holy Lord in this dark world."

The realization that holiness and true joy are inseparably bound to each other provides powerful motivation for the believer.  The pleasures of sin are fleeting (Heb.11:25).  Sin is deceitful.  IT is the real burden in life, yet it seeks to promote itself as something attractive (Gen.3:1-5).  J.C. Ryle defines sin as, "doing, saying, thinking or imagining anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind and law of God. ... Men try to cheat themselves into the belief that sin is not quite so sinful as God says it is, and that they are not so bad as they really are. ... Sin rarely seems sin at first beginnings."

"True holiness is cultivated in the context of a relationship with God."  But God doesn't stop with the demand that His people be holy, set apart TO Him and FOR Him, He also empowers them to become progressively holy in practice through the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  And He provides the means, the graces, by which the Holy Spirit conforms each believer to the image of His beloved Son (Romans 8:29).  Our appropriation of these graces (e.g. knowing & obeying His Word, prayer, sitting under godly preaching & teaching, meeting together to encourage one another to godliness) affects the rate of our individual spiritual growth.  Having a heart tender to the commands of God, a "soft heart" sensitive to Him, one that is quick to repent, quick to forsake sin, quick to obey, also impacts the rate of our spiritual growth.  Holiness starts with our heart attitude, then manifests itself in our actions.  Just like sin, holiness is rooted in the heart.  Any attempt to change our outer actions without first changing our inner heart attitude is not holiness at all and is doomed to failure, nor does it bring any pleasure to God. One need only observe Christ's attitude towards the scribes and Pharisees.  

"True holiness starts on the inside - with our thoughts, attitudes, values and motives - those innermost parts of our hearts that only God can see."  I would add to that list our "inward expectations".  An honest evaluation to make sure our expectations in life are, in fact, biblical, goes far towards helping us to "be renewed in the spirit of your mind and to put on the new man who has been created in God's image — in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth." (Eph.4:22-24)

My prayer for all of us, as we read through this book, would be that we would develop an honest hunger for holiness, that we would appropriate the God-given means/graces to reject anything less and that each of us would respond in humility of mind, which would allow us to honestly evaluate ourselves in the light of God's truth. May our motivation for doing so be a sincere and overwhelming desire to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.



[Based upon the book, Holiness: The Heart God Purifies, Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Week #2 (Chapters 3&4) may be found here. Related Post: Expectations]

Do You Really Know What Biblical Love Is?

It can be easy to mistake a cultural view of love with the Biblical view of love. Doing so can lead us astray in our thinking and subsequently in our actions. J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) writes about what biblical love is and what it is not in his book Walking With God. Hopefully his thoughts will help you develop a God-honoring biblical view of Christian love. Don't settle for a cheap imitation.
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Love is not just giving to the poor. Paul says plainly that someone may 'bestow all his goods to feed the poor' (1 Corinthians 13:3) and not have love. Love does not mean that we never condemn anybody's behavior. Biblical love does not mean we are to ignore sin or to speak well of immorality. Biblical love does not mean that we should never disapprove of anyone's religious opinions. True love says, 'Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)

Let us consider what love is. First, it is love to God. Whoever has this love wants to love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. Secondly, it is love to man. Biblical love will show in a Christian's actions, making him ready to do good to everyone, without looking for any reward. It will show itself in willingness to bear evil. It will make him patient when provoked, forgiving, meek and humble. He will often deny himself for the sake of peace and will be more interested in promoting peace than in securing his own rights. True love never envies, and never rejoices in people's troubles.

The perfect pattern of this love is found in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was hated, persecuted and criticized, but he endured patiently. He was always kind and patient to everyone. Yet he exposed wickedness and rebuked those who sinned. He denounced false doctrine and false practices. He spoke as freely of hell as of heaven. He showed that perfect love does not approve of everybody's life or opinions, and that it is possible to condemn evil and still be full of love. This, then, is what true Christian love is.

Raising Men

On his blog today, Tim Challies commented on a phenomenon I have also noticed ... one I was probably guilty of perpetuating a time or two! If you drive around neighborhoods on a snowy day, you'll notice a lot of Moms shoveling driveways. Many of those households have able bodied older boys, teens and young adult men ... yet it is the mom who is out there shoveling. It made me think about the need to raise children intentionally. I certainly tried to do that as our kids were growing up, but know there were times I chose expediency over character building. I wish I had thought more about long-range consequences. We have become a culture of delayed childhood. Particularly as Christians we need to be careful we don't perpetuate that viewpoint. We're raising our kids to be adults ... not children. That means we have to start building responsibility into their lives as their maturity level allows. The time to begin paying attention to that is now ... not when they are nearly grown and about to leave home.

These days I watch my kids raise their children and I notice how much more they think about parenting. Nehemiah recently shoveled the landlady's walkway [and sidewalk and started in on the neighbor's walkway ;)] when the snow wasn't too deep and Micah goes out to help his Dad whenever he shovels. They are little guys and may not be accomplishing huge amounts, but they are learning to take responsibility and to look for ways to serve others. That's a good thing. Challies writes...

"I remember being a rebellious, listless teenager. I remember how little I wanted to do much of anything for anyone else. I remember our elderly next-door neighbor had a heart attack and was unable to do any strenuous labor. We had a good snowfall one day and I was enjoying the day in the refuge of my basement bedroom, lying across my bed reading a book and listening to some music. My father came down and told me in no uncertain terms that I was to go upstairs, get my winter gear on and get outside to shovel the neighbor’s driveway. He gave me a figurative (and perhaps literal—my memory is a little hazy) kick in the rear-end and sent me on my way. I went outside and there was my neighbor’s wife, shoveling the drive. I pitched in and soon had it cleared. The lesson has stuck.

Dad had high expectations of me, but reasonable, biblical ones. He wanted me to be active and proactive in service to others; he wanted me to be looking for opportunities to serve and for opportunities to serve as a man serves; he wanted me to use my growing strength to serve other people.

I have a boy of my own now and I can see that some of what was in me is in him. He is a good kid, a kind soul. Yet he is sometimes as reluctant to serve as I was when I was young. I am seeking to teach him that he is to use his strength, his ability to serve others and especially to serve those who are weaker or less able than he is. It will not be long before my son is stronger than my wife. Already when they goof around together I can see that she does not have a whole lot on him. What becomes of a mom when she has children who are bigger than she is, stronger than she is, and yet with so little maturity, so little restraint? ...

This is a lesson a father [and mother!] needs to pass to his son. It’s a lesson that no one has taught to so many of the boys who live around me. A little while ago I saw a mother struggling with a load of groceries while her boys pushed past one another and past her to get into the house. I stopped them and told them to get back to the car to help their mother. They looked at me blankly and walked into their house, mumbling an excuse. Mom struggled down the walkway she had shoveled with the groceries she was forced to carry ... There was no one to give these boys the good, swift kick to the posterior that would get them acting like men."

Read the entire blog here.

Perseverance in Holiness

My 5th/6th grade SS class just finished studying the Book of Joshua and  began the Book of Judges last week. Joshua, for the most part, is a story of obedience, blessing and success. Judges, on the other hand, is a story of disobedience, loss of blessing and failure. We noticed in SS class that the change had occurred within ONE generation. Now that leaves me wondering, "Why?"  Why was Joshua's generation, a generation so intent on trusting God and obeying Him, followed by a generation where "every man did what was right in his own eyes"?  Did the older generation fail to teach that next generation about God?  Were they so caught up in possessing the land, they forgot who had given it to them and that God desired to use them as His witness to the nations? [Ex.19:5-6]  Did they become a little too relaxed and comfortable at the end of their lives and their "almost complete obedience" failed to remove the pagan influence on their children?  Did they just get caught up living from day to day and push God into the background, allowing other issues and interests to capture their attention?  Did they start to spend more time looking "horizontally" than they did "vertically"?  Maurice Roberts, in his book, The Thought of God, wrote the following about the importance of persevering in holiness:

"Godliness is soon lost ... Holiness is vulnerable in this world. It is like snow that is quickly melted or mist which disperses when the sun rises up. In one single generation of a family or of a church the power of godliness which it previously had may be lost totally.

If we are to maintain and preserve the spirituality of our homes and churches we must act decisively and purposefully. This we shall not be prepared to do unless we are first convinced of the fact that godliness is the greatest blessing we can wish for our children and for all others over whom God gives us influence. We ought therefore to begin with the conviction that neither health nor happiness, wealth nor education, nor any other thing is comparable in importance to knowledge of God. If our children, our families and our congregations are poor in all else yet rich in their love to God, they are rich indeed. But if they are rich in all else and poor in love to Christ, they are miserably poor indeed. There can be no doubt that this is God's view of the matter and that it ought therefore to be ours also."

What is most important to you? Where do you place your priorities? On what do you expend your money, your time and your thoughts?  As Paul exhorted Timothy, "Be conscientious about how you live and what you teach. Persevere in this, because by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you."  (1 Timothy 4:16)

Timeless Truth

I hear much discussion these days concerning what "modern" Christianity should look like. Particularly for those who were raised in Bible believing churches, there is often a comparison between "the old" and "the new", usually with a great deal of enthusiasm for "the new". I also hear a lot of buzz about adapting the message to fit the audience or the particular culture. Certainly forms can vary, but there are key aspects that never change, no matter the era, no matter the location. The Bible wasn't intended to be written anew for every generation. It's a place to find God's timeless truth. Throughout thousands of years of human history, certain things remain constant.

1.  God's Word is the source of truth.  "...Your word is truth" (John 17:17)
For the issues it chooses to deal with, God's Word presents accurate truth. Truth is not found in surveys. Truth is not determined by majority rule. Truth is not found in the devices nor the wisdom nor the logic of men.

2.  Salvation is "a gift of God, not of works". (Ephesians 2:8)  Christ's work is completely sufficient. He is able to save to the utmost. There is nothing we could possibly add to His finished work. It is done. Grace, by definition, is unmerited favor.

3.  There is one gospel.
"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" (Galatians 1:8)

4. "The gospel... is the power of God unto salvation".  (Romans 1:16)
It's not the music. It's not the rhetorical ability of the speaker, nor the length of his message. It's not the fashion choices of the preacher, nor his hip and up-to-date language. It's not the decoration of the sanctuary... nor the type of seating... nor the hymn / praise music ratio. It's the power of God in the gospel.

I came to Christ as a young adult. I can honestly tell you I was completely headed away from God. I might have told you I believed there WAS a God if push came to shove and no one else was listening, but I had no desire to know Him, learn from Him, love Him, obey Him. I was young. I was hip. I was bright. I was intricately bound up in my culture. I was utterly lost.

So how did I come to place trusting faith in the real God, the God who reveals Himself in Scripture?  Did I attend an "attractional" church? [Hardly!]  Did I hear an "attractional" message?  [Absolutely not! I heard I was a sinner separated from a holy God...and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. But God, in His love, HAD done something about it!]  Was I drawn by an "attractive" and "cool" crowd?  [If you've heard this story before, you're probably on the floor laughing by now!]

I simply heard Biblical truth. God providentially put me in the right place at the right time and He opened my understanding. Someone used God's Word to explain the gospel, God's good news, to me ... and suddenly I understood my position before a holy God and His precious provision for me. What happened to me was the very same thing that had happened to the believers in Colossae so many, many years before.. "...the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing--as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth." (Colossians 1:5-6)  It was true then. It's still true now.

Teaspoon Christianity

"For those of us who have been Christians for a while, it becomes easy to think that we've pretty much exhausted the possibilities of the Christian life. We can settle into a routine of activities at church and in our small groups and Bible studies, with little expectation of anything new. The familiar becomes the predictable, and everything from here on out will be more of the same. We dip our teaspoon into the vast ocean of the living God. Holding that teaspoon in our hand, we say, 'This is God.' We pour it out into our lives, and we say, 'This is the Christian experience.' God calls us to dive into the ocean. He call us into ever new regions of His fullness, His immensity, His all-sufficiency. There is more for us in Christ than we have yet apprehended. Let's never think that we have Him figured out or that we've seen all He can do. The Bible ... is a road map showing us the way into neglected or even forgotten glories of the living God."

[Ray Ortlund, When God Comes to Church]

Parenting As an Opportunity, Not an Inconvenience

I've ordered the 3-DVD Parenting Seminar by Paul Tripp [Shepherding a Child's Heart] and am making it available to all  my "mom friends". Just ask! To whet your appetite, here's a recent post from Tripp's blog:

"We had planned a day at a local theme park with our children. I was anticipating a day of familial amusement park bliss. I was hoping that on this day my children would be self-parenting, and if God could throw in a fully sanctified wife, that would be cool!  Well, we’re getting out of the van at the park and one of my children said, “Dad, may we have something to drink before we go into the park?”  It didn’t seem like a dangerous request.  I opened the cooler, which was full of soft drinks, and all of my children sighted in on the one can of soda that they all knew was the best. Immediately global nuclear war broke out. They were pushing and shoving, grabbing and pulling, throwing ice at one another, saying unkind things and hitting one another’s hands out of the way. I couldn’t believe it. We weren’t even in the park yet, and my day was already ruined!

So I jumped in and said, “Do you want to fight? We don’t have to pay all this money for you to fight. I’ll take you home, put a cooler in the backyard with one can of soda in it, and you can fight forever!”  Soon my children aren’t fighting anymore because they’re watching the crowd gather as I lose it in the parking lot of the theme park.

Let’s analyze what’s going on in this moment and what’s happening inside of me. What’s going on is that a God of grace is taking a mundane moment of daily family life and using it to do something wonderful for my children and for me.  He is making the condition of their hearts visible in order to produce concern in me that would hopefully result in awareness and a desire to change in them.  But I’m not at all encouraged in this moment with what God is doing.  You see, I’m not angry in the parking lot because my children are sinners. No, I’m angry that God has exposed their sin, and because He has, I have to forsake my agenda for the day and parent them!  It all seems like a huge imposition, a hassle that I just didn’t want to deal with.

But the reality is different from God’s perspective. The sin, weakness, rebellion, or failure of your children is never an imposition on your parenting.  It is never an interruption.  It is never a hassle.  It is always grace. God loves your children. He has put them in a family of faith, and in relentless grace He will reveal their need to you again and again so that you can be his tool of awareness, conviction, repentance, faith, and change.  And because in these moments He asks you to forsake your agenda for His, this opportunity of grace is not just for your children, it’s for you as well.

But my problem is that there are moments when I tend to love my little kingdom of one more than I love His. So I’m impatient, discouraged, or irritated not because my children have broken the laws of God’s kingdom, but the laws of mine. In my kingdom there shall be no parenting on family vacation days, or when I am reading the paper on my iPad, or after ten o’clock at night, or during a good meal, or . . . I could go on.  And when I’m angry about interruptions to my kingdom plan, there are four things I tend to do.

1. I tend to turn a God-given moment of ministry into a moment of anger.


2. I do this because I have personalized what is not personal.  (Before we left for the amusement park that day, my children didn’t plot to drive me crazy in the parking lot.)

3. Because I have personalized what is not personal, I am adversarial in my response. (It’s not me acting for my children, but acting against them because they are in the way of what I want.)

4. So I end up settling for situational solutions that don’t really get to the heart of the matter.  (I bark and order, I instill guilt, I threaten a punishment and walk away, and my children are utterly unchanged by the encounter.)

There is a better way. It begins with praying that God would give you new eyes; eyes that are more focused on His eternal work of grace than on your momentary plans for you. This better way also includes seeking God for a flexible and willing heart, ready to abandon your agenda for God’s greater plan.  And it lives with the confidence that God is in you, with you, and for you and will give you what you need so that you can face, with courage and grace, the parenting moment that you didn’t know was coming."

Ted Tripp's Complete Blog Post

Portrait of a Healthy Church Member

I recently posted a few things concerning key biblical elements indicative of a healthy church, such as expository preaching, biblical theology, the gospel, church discipline, evangelism, membership, discipleship and a biblical understanding of church leadership. [Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Dever]  Another pressing question would be, "What are the characteristics of a healthy church member?"  Many spend time evaluating the church. God instructs each believer to evaluate himself:
 
"Let a person examine himself..." [1Cor.11:28]; "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves..." [2Cor.13:5]; "... be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you." [2Pet.1:10]

Thabiti Anyabwile wrote a companion book to "Nine Marks" called,  What Is a Healthy Church Member?. Here is a summary of his main points:

1. A healthy church member is an expositional listener.[2 Tim.2:15]
2. A healthy church member is a biblical theologian.    [Acts 20:27]
3. A healthy church member is Gospel saturated.        [2 Pet.1:3]
4. A healthy church member is genuinely converted.    [Rom. 8:29-30]
5. A healthy church member is a biblical evangelist.     [2 Cor.5:20-21]
6. A healthy church member is a committed member.  [1 Tim.1:12]
7. A healthy church member is a seeker of discipline.  [1 Cor.9:27]
8. A healthy church member is a growing disciple.       [2 Pet.3:17-18]
9. A healthy church member is a humble follower.       [Heb.13:17; 1 Pet.2:13-14]
10. A healthy church member is a prayer warrior.       [Eph.6:18; 1Thess.5:17; James 5:13]

So, how are you doing?  This would be a good book to purchase with some of that money you received for Christmas! [Related post, A Healthy Church Member: Learning to Listen to God.]

A Horse of a Different Color...

Most of us are familiar with Read-Through-the-Bible-in-a-Year plans. While it's useful to do this periodically in order to refresh yourself with the big picture, I don't usually recommend it as a yearly pursuit. I believe there is greater benefit in repetitive reading of each book, one at a time. You remember better, you really get a handle on the context and repetitive readings give you increased awareness and better understanding. But many still want a little guidance, a little more structure to help them faithfully stick with it.

So here is a yearly reading plan that actually helps you THINK about what you're reading. It's goal is not to finish the entire Bible in a year, but to slow down and meditate upon what you've read. As the creator states, "The purpose of this Bible reading schedule (shortened considerably from schedules that get through the Bible in one year) is actually to limit the amount of Bible we read daily. Reading quickly through many verses may not be as profitable as savoring deeply a few verses. So the aim of this schedule is not to read less, but to meditate more."

If you'd like to take a look, you can download it here.

[I figured out how to connect the link! Maybe you CAN teach an old dog new tricks! ;)  If you have any difficulty, just let me know and I'll print off a copy for you.]

On Private Prayer: "Animated by the Humiliation of Penitential Love"

I've noticed how easy it is to tell people on facebook or other social media, "I'm praying for you." Yet I wonder how much time is actually spent doing so. How deep are our prayers? How frequent? How often do we approach God with the reverence He deserves and seriously contend in prayer? I find myself hesitating to say or write it too quickly because Scripture teaches me not to treat prayer lightly, nor to make rash vows. If I say I will pray, I want to devote myself to doing so. Our lives have become so filled with other activities, which possess so little eternal value, I fear our prayer life is too often approached rather lightly and haphazardly.

The following is an excerpt from The Valley of Vision, a wonderful little book of Puritan prayers and devotions. Whenever I read writings from this time period I find myself longing to be able to express myself this way. I fear we've not only lost the words, we've also lost the heart behind the words. I find it valuable to refresh my mind with their Christian worldview, which sought to honor God in every part of life.

I have been hasty and short in private prayer,
O quicken my conscience to feel this folly,
to bewail this ingratitude;
My first sin of the day leads into others,
and it is just that thou shouldst withdraw thy presence
from one who waited carelessly on thee.

Keep me at all times from robbing thee,
and from depriving my soul of thy due worship;
Let me never forget
that I have an eternal duty to love, honour and obey thee,
that thou art infinitely worthy of such;
that if I fail to glorify thee
I am guilty of infinite evil that merits infinite punishment,
for sin is the violation of an infinite obligation.

O forgive me if I have dishonoured thee,
Melt my heart, heal my backslidings,
and open an intercourse of love...
Let thy mercies draw me to thyself.
Wean me from all evil, mortify me to the world,
and make me ready for my departure hence
animated by the humiliations of penitential love.

My soul is often a chariot without wheels,
clogged and hindered in sin's miry clay;
Mount it on eagle's wings
and cause it to soar upward to thyself.

Eternal Perspective: On Being an Invalid in God's Hospital

[Excerpted from Rediscovering Holiness, J.I. Packer]

"We are all invalids in God's hospital. In moral and spiritual terms we are all sick and damaged, diseased and deformed, scarred and sore, lame and lopsided, to a far, far greater extent than we realize. Under God's care we are getting better, but we are not yet well. The modern Christian likes to dwell on present blessings rather than future prospects. We need to realize the spiritual health we testify to is only partial and relative, a matter of being less sick and less incapacitated now than we were before. Measured by the absolute standard of spiritual health that we see in Jesus Christ, we are all of us invalids in the process of being cured. The church is God's hospital. No Christian, and no church, ever has the clean bill of spiritual health that would match the total physical well-being for which today's fitness seekers labor. To long for total spiritual well-being is right and natural, but to believe that one is anywhere near it is to be utterly self-deceived. It is not always easy to grasp that one is ill. Pride and complacency blind us to this reality. We decline to be told when we are slipping; thinking we stand, we set ourselves up to fall, and predictably, alas, we do fall.

In God's hospital the course of treatment that the Father, Son and HS, the permanent medical staff, are giving to each of us with a view to our final restoration to the fullness of the divine image, is called sanctification. It is a process that includes medication and diet (biblical instruction & admonition coming in various ways to the heart) and tests and exercises (internal & external pressures, providentially ordered, to which we have to make active response). The process goes on as long as we are in this world, which is something that God decides in each case. "How come it's taking me so long to get better?" is often our heart-cry to God. The truth is that God knows what He is doing, but sometimes, for reasons connected with the maturity and ministry that He has in view for us, He makes haste slowly. That is something we have to learn humbly to accept. We are in a hurry; He is not."

"Redeeming the Tongue"

[Excerpted from Maurice Robert's "Redeeming the Tongue" from his book, "The Thought of God".]

"When the Christian comes to the end of his pilgrimage, one sin he will regret is his idle speech. It is assumed that no true believer allows himself to go on in outward sins such as drunkenness, theft or immorality. It is assumed, too, that the believer is concerned to put a stop to all inward sins, not least to sinful thoughts. But there is reason to believe that our sins of speech are specially in need of correction.

Our sins of thought bring us much shame inwardly; but our sins of speech expose us to shame in the eyes of others. Our sinful words are our sinful thoughts verbalized. They are audibly broadcast. They reflect the corruption within us as in a mirror. They do harm to ourselves and they do harm to others. Our folly, formerly known only to ourselves, is now apparent to all men. It is to be feared, therefore, that we do not read God's Word on this subject with anything like the attention it deserves. 'The heart of fools proclaims foolishness.' 'A fool's lips enter into contention.' 'A foolish woman is clamorous.' 'A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snares of his soul.' 'A fool utters all his mind.' What shame a good man feels when he spoils his testimony by speaking foolishly! Scripture says: 'Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to send forth a stinking savor: so does a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor.'

There is another reason, too, why we might look back in sorrow at our misuse of the tongue and therefore keep a more careful watch of it in the future. The tone of a Christian's conversation gives us a fair idea of how sanctified he is. 'By your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned," said Christ. The meaning must surely be that words betray the true character of every man. They reveal the state of the heart.

Was it not our Savior and Judge himself who warned us: 'I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment'? Similarly, the apostle Paul issues this sober command to us: 'Let no corrupt/worthless communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearer.' There is a twofold duty placed before us in these words: to refrain from careless and unprofitable talk and to study to build one another up by well-chosen, soul-fattening conversation.

There is a special blessing attached to godly and spiritual conversation. To this Malachi alludes in his prophecy: 'Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.' What a promise! If Christians today were seriously to practice the pattern of this verse, how much more of God's presence we should enjoy! Then let us study to edify one another. Those who do so will discover that even the Almighty himself gives ear."

Winter Doldrums Book Club

The Ladies winter book club will begin late January/early February. This time we'll be considering the issue of sanctification, the believer's personal holiness. God commands His people to be holy, reflecting His own holiness. "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." (1Peter 1:14-16) What exactly does that look like in our lives? Nancy Leigh DeMoss has written a brief, but thought provoking book on the subject, entitled, "Holiness: The Heart God Purifies". 

Concerning the book, John Piper wrote, "When our pastoral team reads a book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, we listen. We are riveted. We are convicted. When you taste the pleasantness of painful and precious truth, you want more. I thank God for the heart-awakening, holiness-advancing, Christ-exalting ministry of Nancy Leigh DeMoss."

Let me know if you intend to join us, and  if you'd like me to order a copy for you ($9.60 hardcover). You may do so by commenting below, on facebook, by email or in person. "If you're longing for a deeper connection with God, you must first answer His call to holiness." Won't you join us?
[Order Deadline: January 16th]

The Challenge Is On...

Sometimes people have the idea that it's too late for them to seriously study God's Word. I've recently been amazed to see what a difference even a short period of consistent time spent in Scripture can make. Less than a year ago Colin started reading/listening through the Bible. He reads every morning and listens to CDs as he drives. In that short amount of time I've been amazed to hear him begin to apply Scripture to life and base decisions upon it. He's already developing an eternal perspective, referring to passages from memory and making insightful observations. In less than a year!

I've also been challenged by reading the biographies of believers who were imprisoned for their faith for long periods of time. Their ability to recall Scripture is what gave them a lifeline to hold onto. I'm ashamed to say I would not be able to do the same without a Bible in hand. We memorize so many isolated, unrelated and often out of context verses... but have no significant passages in context we can bring quickly to mind.

So I'm presenting you with a challenge. Sixteen weeks. That's all. In sixteen weeks (by Easter) you can have memorized the entire Book of Philippians. Accomplish that and see what a difference it makes in your spiritual walk! The blog over at Gospel Coalition has broken Philippians down into 16 weeks, with about 7 verses a week to learn. That means it has to become a daily habit. They say it takes just 3 weeks to create a habit... think what an opportunity this is! To help people out they offer a .pdf with weekly verses that can be pasted onto 5x7 index cards and fastened with a ring... or pasted into a Cahier moleskine book, available at Borders or directly from the moleskine website at 3 for $6.95 (plus shipping). Send me an email or make a comment below and I'll send you a copy of the .pdf to print out. I'm going to give it a try. I think I'll find it will become easier once I get into the swing of it. What a great book to know and be able to bring to mind at will! Think what a difference it would make in your life and in the lives of those you minister to! Give it a try!

A Few Surprises in Cleveland!

I thought I would share a few significant antiquities from the collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art. As I descended the stairs to the antiquities area, I was shocked to discover a full sized bronze statue from Classical Greece staring at me. Greek bronzes are extremely rare. Most of our knowledge concerning them comes from their more recent Roman copies. (The Romans loved Greek culture!)  The only original bronzes I have ever seen were those discovered in a sunken ship off the coast of Greece and placed on display in a small museum in Piraeus, the port of Athens. And here was one in the collection at Cleveland! It's called "Apollo Sauroktonos (Lizard Slayer)" and depicts a youthful Apollo, holding an arrow, about to stab a lizard climbing the tree he's leaning against. The tree & arrow are gone. Other than that the statue is in wonderful condition. It's attributed to Praxiteles himself (400-330 BC). The eyes are made of stone. It's even more unusual for the eyes to be intact. The viewer has a vivid idea of how this statue actually appeared to the Greeks in the 4th century BC! This is a real treasure!

In the Ancient Near East collection I was also surprised to find a few other treasures. There are a number of ancient stone figures from the Greek Cyclades islands dating to c.3000 BC that seem almost modern in their simplicity of line & feature (see example on left). They're referred to as "Cycladic" art and I've only seen examples which came from this group of Greek islands in the Aegean. [The Benaki Museum in Athens has an excellent collection.] Well, it appears that Cleveland has one of similar style from the same time period which was found not in the Cyclades islands, but in Western Anatolia (modern Turkey)! No mythology has yet been found to go with these statues, but I suspect they were cultic in nature, probably representing a fertility goddess. The one in Cleveland is not identical to the Cyladic examples, but very close in style! (See Cleveland's "Star Gazer" on right.) One difference is that the head looks up in the Cleveland statue. The Cycladic statues usually have a straight-forward gaze. It's easy to imagine trade and exchange of ideas and culture between the Greek islands & Anatolia, even in 3000 BC. This truly fascinated me.

And finally, I was thrilled to discover finds from an "old friend". Mystery writer Agatha Christie's second husband, Max Mallowan, was an eminent British archaeologist. She accompanied him on digs in the Near East just before and after WWII and wrote about the experience in one of my favorite books, Come, Tell Me How You Live. It's a wonderful read and gives a fascinating depiction of the Near East in that time period. Mallowan is well known for his discovery of a number of small ivory carvings he found in a well in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (modern Iraq). Since they were detached from the furniture where they originally appeared, it's probable they were part of the loot taken by an Assyrian king from some Near Eastern palace. [They are carved in a Phoenician (modern Lebanon) style.] They had been tossed into the well, perhaps  during a subsequent attack of Assyrian Nimrud, and there they remained until discovered by Mallowan. A number are on display at the British Museum and others can be seen in the National Museum in Iraq. Good news, friends... some of them can also be viewed at the Cleveland Museum of Art! I walked around a corner and came upon an entire display case of them! Breathtaking and so unexpected. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the ones from Cleveland, but here are a few examples found in other museums. This is a peek into the Ancient Near Eastern world we read about in the Old Testament!

You Be Holy Because I Am Holy

With Winter Doldrums Ladies' Book Club approaching after the holidays, I'm reading through a number of books on the importance of personal holiness in the life of a follower of Christ. I have not yet decided on the "perfect" book for us to read, but thought I would share a few quotes from what I have read so far, in order to whet your appetite. God calls His people to be holy because He is holy.


From Holiness by J.C. Ryle:
Surely that man must be in an unhealthy state of soul who can think of all that Jesus suffered, and yet cling to those sins for which that suffering was undergone. It was sin that wove the crown of thorns; it was sin that pierced our Lord's hands and feet and side; it was sin that brought Him to Gethsemane and Calvary, to the cross and to the grave. Cold must our hearts be if we do not hate sin and labour to get rid of it...

From Holiness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss:
God's goal in saving you was not just to make your few years on planet Earth easier or more enjoyable. He had an eternal end in view. His intent was to make you holy, as He is holy, that you might perfectly glorify Him, that you might bring Him pleasure, and that you might enjoy intimate fellowship with Him for all eternity.

The apostle Paul reminds us that God "chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him." (Ephesians 1:4)

Your holiness is not secondary to whatever other goals you may have for your life - it is God's supreme purpose for your life. It is something He desired, planned, and made provision for before He even created the world...

"Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." (1 John 3:3) When I consider my created purpose and my ultimate destiny ... I am inspired to be intentional about pursuing holiness, in anticipation of that glorious day when I will finally be holy through and through.

Do you share His goal for your life? What are you living for? From the time you put your feet on the floor in the morning till you pillow your head at night, are you consciously cooperating with Him and pursuing His eternal purpose to make you holy?"

How Do You Read Your Bible?

C.S. Lewis analyzes the difference between 'contemplation' and 'enjoyment' in his essay, "Meditation in a Toolshed":

I was standing today in the dark toolshed.  The sun was shining outside and
through the crack at the top of the door there came a sunbeam.  From where I stood that beam of light, with specks of dust floating in it, was the most striking thing in the place.  Everything else was almost pitch-black. I was seeing the beam, not seeing things by it.


Then I moved, so that the beam fell on my eyes.  Instantly the whole previous picture vanished. I saw no toolshed, and (above all) no beam.  Instead I saw, framed in the irregular cranny at the top of the door, green leaves moving on the branches of a tree outside and beyond that, ninety-odd million miles away, the sun. Looking along the beam, and looking at the beam are very different experiences."

Read those two paragraphs one more time, slowly.  Philosopher Samuel Alexander called 'looking at the beam' Contemplation (abstract, external, impersonal, uninvolved knowledge) and 'looking along the beam' Enjoyment (participatory, inhabited, personal, committed knowledge).  That got me thinking about the different steps I take when studying the Bible.  Both Contemplation and Enjoyment are, I think, essential to understanding and living out God's Word.  I've often wondered why my appetite for the Bible is increasingly voracious.  For many, spending time in the Word is either a chore they would prefer to skip or a Christian discipline they'd like to accomplish quickly so they can get on to the 'more important' things in life.  There is no enjoyment involved.  I've been considering that HOW we read the Bible may affect our desire for it.

Obviously there is a spiritual element involved.  The Holy Spirit indwelling a believer naturally longs for God's Word.  But I think the human element also affects the process.  Rereading Lewis' essay led me to consider that there are three different levels of reading. Borrowing a little from Alexander, I'd like to identify them as: Fact Finding, Contemplation and Enjoyment. 

Fact Finding is probably the most common approach.  It involves straight reading.  For example, last week I read Ephesians, Chapter 1.  After my first read through I was mostly struck by the number of prepositional phrases and the length of Paul's sentences.  There was some understanding, of course, but mostly I found it confusing.  Many stop at this level and go on to read Chapter 2.  In a week's time if you asked them what they read, they couldn't tell you.  If you asked them what they learned about God, they couldn't tell you.  If you asked them how it changed their lives, they couldn't tell you.

Contemplation is the next level.  I reread the chapter several times and began searching for the "specks of dust".  Reading it on e-sword made it possible to easily highlight significant phrases and words.  I noticed how many times "in Christ" is used.  Then I noticed the vast number of things God has done to and for the believer, and highlighted those in a different color, compiling the list onto a Word document.  Finally, I translated and made an analytical chart of the chapter, which led me to an ever increasing depth of understanding of what Paul was saying and HOW he was saying it.  I realized he was purposely building prepositional phrase upon prepositional phrase to give the readers a sense of the  abundance of blessings they possess through spiritual union with Christ Jesus.  Paul used multiple phrases so the reader would be "weighed down" by the riches they possess in Christ!

Enjoyment was the final stage.  Now that I had a grasp of what Paul was saying and an idea of how he was expressing it, I was ready to "step into the sunbeam" and let it flood over me, allowing it to become personal, committed knowledge.  Being able to see the "green leaves" of truth I had previously been blind to, and even more importantly, seeing "the sun", i.e. God Himself, more clearly!  Thanks to the previous two levels of reading, I was now able to slowly read through Ephesians, Chapter 1 and be overwhelmed by the work of God through Christ Jesus on my behalf and understand the depth of my riches in Christ.  I could bask in the "sunbeam", soaking it up, allowing it to give my life richness and the eternal perspective it needed.

All three levels are vital in Bible study.  They build upon each other.  Don't be satisfied with Fact Finding, nor stop at Contemplation, nor try to skip ahead to Enjoyment.  I encourage you to incorporate all three into your study of Scripture.  I think you'll be amazed at the difference it makes!

[My thanks to Michael Ward's book, Planet Narnia, for inspiring my thinking by reprinting Lewis' essay.]

Teaching Your Children to Deal with Crisis & Fear

I'd like to share a post from a "Guest Blogger". Anna Thorburn & her family attend Christ Community Church with my daughter, Beth. In response to a family crisis in July when her self-employed husband was seriously injured, she wrote the following letter to their five children to help teach them a biblical approach to crisis & fear. This is a wonderful example of what parenting as a Christian looks like. I'm sure she would welcome your prayers for her family. I pray her letter will help you & your family face the difficulties in life in a manner that honors our Lord. [I have shortened it considerably, hoping more will take the time to read it. Please send me a note if you'd like a copy of the entire letter.]

*************************************************************************************

Encouragement from 2 Chronicles 20: 
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

My Dear Children,

A few weeks ago, Gary Brothers shared some encouragement from 2 Chronicles 20. Since that day, I have been “unpacking” this section of Scripture. The Lord is using it mightily to encourage me as I review God’s character demonstrated throughout this passage, as well as King Jehoshaphat’s example as he responds to his situation. I write out my notes here for you, hoping it will give you some guidance and encouragement, too!

King Jehoshaphat learned that swarms of evil armies were about to attack Judah. He was afraid  so…


1) “He set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”(2Chron.20:3)

He flew into action, but it was an action of faith! He positioned himself for seeking. He must have felt he needed direction. He sought the Lord, who is the only One who can give it. In getting into the “seeking-position,” he proclaimed a fast, not only for himself, but for the whole nation. We will seek God together.. .we will fast together. Seeking God was a deliberate action. In this case, it involved self-denial & assembly of all those involved. Judah was being attacked, Judah fasted, Judah sought God… with Jehoshaphat at the helm. There are times that we must do this as a family [and as a local assembly]!

2) He prayed

     a. He reminds God of their relationship (2Chron.20:6)

     b. He reviews God’s power and might  (2Chron.20:6)

     c. He reminds God of His faithfulness on their behalf in His past actions  (2Chron.20:7-12)

     d. He expresses his own powerlessness & keeps his eyes on God. (2Chron.20:12)

         This is my heart cry today. I don’t know how to fix things and I am incapable of even thinking them
         through at times. (Psalm 34: 5)

     e. He states his resolution: “We will stand.”(2Chron.20:13)

      
         He is not assuming that God will prevent the affliction from coming upon him. It rests in God’s
         hands. They don’t know! Jehoshaphat IS, however, confident in the fact that God will hear
         them & save them. He is telling God that no matter what, they will stand and cry out to Him
         in whatever affliction comes. He knows that God will hear them and save them in whatever form He
         ordains.

3) “all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives & their children.”
     (2Chron.20:13)

I love this!!! They could have been home, right? What good could their wives & little ones do, standing before the Lord as an assembly? Babies need feeding, changing, naps. Little ones make noise & could be disturbing. Wives have work to do. Perhaps they could have been packing for an escape! But no, they were there, as they had been so many times before in Scripture… all of Judah assembled together, with their wives & their children. We sometimes need to seek God as an assembly, as a church & as a family. Imagine what it would be like to watch your parents & all the people from the oldest to the youngest seeking God together and then falling on their faces in worship!

4) GOD ACTS.

“And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel…in the midst of the assembly.” He gives the message from God to them: “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”(2Chron.20:14-15)

God tells them what to do: don’t be afraid or dismayed, and go out against them... but they will not need to fight. They are to hold their position and stand and wait to see the salvation of the Lord on their behalf. He says He will be with them. What a comfort!  Even when we are fighting, the battle is the Lord’s and the strength to fight is from the Lord. The outcome is God’s.

5) A Response of Worship (2Chron.20:18-19)

Jehoshaphat bows himself low and all of Judah followed his example. They fell down and worshiped God after receiving this message! Then they stood up and praised God with a “very loud voice!”

Sometimes when God has answered my prayer, I go about my business, happy for the resolution of my problem. This is just terrible! We must praise and worship God in humility and in gratitude. They hadn’t even been rescued yet. They were praising God after hearing He would be with them and would fight for them. We know that God is with us and fighting on our behalf today because of Christ’s death and resurrection. This should make us worship and praise Him continually!

6) A Response of Obedience “They rose early in the morning and went out…” (2Chron.20:20-21)

When they went out, Jehoshaphat exhorted them, reminded them some more: “Hear me… Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe His prophets, and you will succeed!” Then—this is amazing—he appointed those who would sing and praise the Lord to go ahead of the army.

7) God heard their praise and acted.  “And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord sent an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah.”  (2Chron.20:22)

8) A Response of Thankfulness (2Chron.20:23-24, 26-28)

Their enemies destroyed one another! Judah spent three days taking the spoil, but then…
on the fourth day, they assembled AGAIN to bless the Lord… and then they returned to Jerusalem in joy and rejoicing, coming into the house of God w/great music to the Lord. They did not forget to worship and praise God for what He had done, even after the threat was gone and peace had returned.

9) God Was Glorified (2Chron.20:29)

The effect these events had upon all who heard about it was that they feared the Lord. When God delivers His people, those around take notice. We become part of the story of God glorifying His name on the earth—for which He is worthy—when He has triumphed over our enemies. Sometimes our enemies are difficult circumstances or persecution. Sometimes our enemy is within our own hearts. When God triumphs and the battle is won, the effect is obvious and God’s glory cannot be denied.

[Thank you, Anna...]

Week 8: The Screwtape Letters - Persevering to the End

"To be greatly and effectively wicked a man needs some virtue."  [Screwtape to Wormwood]  

In Letter 29 we discover the patient's hometown will soon fall victim to German bombing.  Wanting to take advantage of the fear this will engender, Screwtape contemplates several possible directions  Wormwood might take.  On the one hand, fear could lead the patient into courage, which in turn might lead to pride.  But it's also possible courage might give the Enemy [i.e. God] a foothold in his life.

On the other hand, cowardice, with its potential for hatred, might prove fruitful. "Hatred," he writes, "is ... often the compensation by which a frightened man reimburses himself for the miseries of Fear ... And hatred is also a great anodyne for shame."  But it's admittedly a tricky endeavor, since cowardice is not a vice most men take pride in.  There is also the danger that cowardice might "produce real self-knowledge and self-loathing with consequent repentance and humility."

Screwtape then suggests a third approach. "Precautions have a tendency to increase fear."  He advises, "Get his mind off the simple rule ('I've got to stay here and do so-and-so') into a series of imaginary life lines."  Properly developed this might even lead into superstition.  "Keep him feeling that he has something, other than the Enemy and courage the enemy supplies, to fall back on...".  Having been born and raised in New England, I can identify with that sin!  Often my first thought is to self-sufficiently deal with a problem using my own wits, proceeding under my own power.  It can be so easy to spend all my time on the path of "what if?" and how easily that can degenerate into superstition! With age,  I've learned to keep my eyes on the Lord and off the "what ifs" and instead, to pray and  line up MY will with God's purposes.  I keep moving forward, but I do so with the understanding that God can work in amazing ways above and beyond anything I can imagine, should He choose to do so!  I try not to "second guess" how God will deal with a problem.  Instead, I bring it before His throne and trust in His goodness and power.  I also struggle to not "set time-tables" within which I expect God to work.  Focusing on my dependence and God's sovereignty gives me a completely different outlook on difficulties and trials!  The Psalmists understood this, which is why I think we find such comfort and direction there...

I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; 

Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. 

I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds. 

Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? 

You are the God who works wonders ... [Psalm 77:11-14] 

Letter 30 The patient proves to have been quite faithful during the first air strikes, much to Wormwood's chagrin.  "He has been very frightened and thinks himself a great coward and therefore feels no pride; but he has done everything his duty demanded and perhaps a bit more." That's not the outcome Screwtape had hoped for!  He does hold out hope that the patient's fatigue might be successfully manipulated, though fatigue has also been known to "produce extreme gentleness, and quiet of mind, and even something like vision."  Screwtape finds "moderate fatigue is a better soil for peevishness than absolute exhaustion... It is not fatigue... that produces the anger, but unexpected demands on a man already tired.  Whatever men expect they soon come to think they have a right to: the sense of disappointment can, with very little skill... be turned into a sense of injury."

Colin recently asked if I could remember our first experience with air conditioning. It occurred during our honeymoon, which was spent at my Aunt and Uncle's home in Newport News, Virginia in early August.  Neither of us had grown up with air conditioning in homes, cars or stores.  We recalled sleeping outside and on porches as children, because of the oppressive heat on the second stories of our homes.  At the time neither of us thought it unusual to be hot, listless and uncomfortable during the summer months.  Now, having experienced air conditioned cars and buildings as the "norm", it would seem burdensome for us to be without them!  "Whatever men expect they soon come to think they have a right to."

But what if God placed me somewhere where air conditioning didn't exist ... would I murmur and complain and demand my "rights"?  How many other areas might affect us this way?  How did you feel not having Internet access during last winter's ice storm?  What if you didn't have a cell phone and couldn't text your friends?  What if you suddenly had only one car in your family?  What if you lost your good health?  "Whatever men expect they soon come to think they have a right to."

Letter 31 brings a sudden end to Screwtape & Wormwood's correspondence.  Wormwood has lost the battle for his patient's soul. The man has been killed by a German bomb ... his faith persevering to the end!  Death of the body was able, at last, to clear his senses to reality.  Screwtape writes to Wormwood, "There was a sudden clearing of his eyes... as he saw you for the first time, and recognized the part you had had in him and knew that you had it no longer.  Just think (and let that be the beginning of your agony) what he felt at that moment; as if a scab had fallen from an old sore, as if he were emerging from a hideous, shell-like tetter [skin sore], as if he shuffled off for good and all a defiled, wet, clinging garment."

Ever since I first became aware of the inevitability of my own death when my cerebral aneurysm was discovered in my early 30's, I've often meditated upon what it will be like when this body with its attached sin nature is at last detached from my spirit and soul ... the REAL me.  How we cling to these bodies, yet how glad we shall be to be free of them someday!  It's also amazing to think about the clarity of sight that will afford, compared to the limited vision we now have!  That's why I am so very thankful to have God's revelation to make me aware of all the things I cannot currently fathom on my own!  How encouraging those truths are when I am engulfed in difficulties, pain or trials!  How wonderfully comforting that I am able to look beyond my own perceptions and emotions and place my trust in the One who sees it all, knows it all, and controls it all!

This ends our study of "The Screwtape Letters".  I trust you have found the book to be a challenge and encouragement to your own Christian walk.  I pray that you no longer view the vagaries of daily life in quite the same way you did before reading Lewis' classic work.  My prayer for all of us is that we would always seek God first, that we would be quick to trust Him and that we would respond to His providential care with love, obedience, patience and thankfulness. To God be the glory!

[I have purchased the Focus on the Family radio drama based upon the book. If you would like to borrow it after you've finished reading, please let me know.]

[Week #1]

Week 7: The Screwtape Letters - Deepening Roots

"...we pick out this natural pleasantness of change and twist it into a demand for absolute novelty... But the greatest triumph of all is to elevate this horror of the Same Old Thing into a philosophy so that nonsense in the intellect may reinforce corruption in the will."

Letter 25  When I consider the demand for novelty in our own time, two particular areas come to mind - academia and the publishing world.  Seeking to discover a new interpretation or unique translation becomes particularly dangerous when applied to God's Word.  Consumers are often attracted to book titles with words such as "new," "revealed" or "secret" on the cover.  When it comes to biblical scholarship, however, these works usually end up being straight out heresy or minority opinions well refuted years ago!

Rather than evaluating a subject from a broad range of knowledge, readers often form opinions based upon one author's take on an issue.  All opinions are not equally valid, of course, but discernment is becoming a lost art.  We're too easily influenced by the skills of a talented author, a dynamic college professor, a favorite talk radio personality or the latest movement in Christianity.  We don't work at having a cohesive system of thought, content instead to settle on a favorite hobby horse.  Without realizing it, we can come to embrace a post-modern world view that all opinions are equally valid because truth cannot be known.  Discussions degenerate into arguing opinions rather than evaluating biblical fact.  Scripture is a cohesive, unified whole.  God is making a particular point in every passage.  It is our duty as believers to develop the necessary skills to rightly understand His point.  When it comes to Scripture, the inspired author's intended meaning is all that counts.  Unique interpretations, the application of modern cultural meaning to ancient writings, an evolutionary point of view concerning the "development" of Hebrew religion from pagan religions, forcing verses out of their context in order to make a point,  and proof-texting to back up predetermined belief are potholes we need to watch out for.  Lewis rightly warns that false assumptions in these areas result in false practices.

We should also be cautious when we read a Christian book that gets us so excited about one particular facet of Christianity that we direct our focus too narrowly and no longer value all the other facets of Christianity.  Absolutely KEY to having a balanced Christian life is knowing God's complete revealed Word so well that we're not more susceptible to human logic and reason that to a correct understanding of Scripture as written.

In Letter 26, Screwtape suggests "substituting the negative unselfishness for the Enemy's [i.e. God's] positive Charity [i.e. selfless love]."  That way demons can "teach a man to surrender benefits, not that others may be happy in having them, but that he may be unselfish in forgoing them."  The outer actions may look the same, but the inner heart motivations they stem from are entirely different.  God, of course, discerns the true intents of the heart.  One brings Him glory, the other does not.

I gleaned three things from this letter.  First, bad habits can accrue in a relationship and it's important to recognize them when they occur.  I've learned there is always hope when God is involved!  He can change people and replace those bad habits with Christ-like ones.  Second, carrying grudges is lethal to any relationship!  I remind myself that God loved me while I was yet a sinner [Romans 5:8].  Rereading Matthew 18 helps get everything back into the right perspective!  And third, self-righteousness and obstinacy don't glorify God.  Stubbornly holding onto our sin or acts stemming from wrong motivations doesn't please God, nor help us to become more like our Savior.  Repeated study of the life of Christ in the gospels is vital to having a God-honoring perspective.  It supplies me with reminders when I need them the most!

Letter 27 deals primarily with prayer.  It's not always easy for us to get beyond our human, logical way of thinking about biblical revelation.  It's not that God's Word is illogical; I think it just takes time for us to know His Word well enough to get a cohesive picture ... and it will always be an incomplete one this side of eternity.  I recall trying to wrap my mind around biblical truths as I became aware of them as a new believer, trying to understand why an omniscient God chooses to be affected by the prayers of His people or why an omnipotent God chooses to use feeble men to bring about His program.  I can't honestly tell you I have it completely wrapped up ... but I do know Scripture well enough to know it's true.  God wants us to pray, acknowledging our dependence upon Him, and He wants us to serve Him with a willing heart to bring about His purposes.

One proof of the God-inspired authorship of Scripture is its presentation of truths that can be hard for us to comprehend.  Men don't naturally think this way!  There are so many seeming dichotomies presented. It can be hard for us to fathom how both can be true, but it's actually a pattern seen throughout God's Word.  We are naturally creatures of "either/or", not "both/and".  Concepts such as sovereignty AND free will, assurance AND perseverance, knowledge AND love, Jesus' deity AND humanity, and so many other biblical concepts are not natural to man's way of thinking.  We tend to think only one is possible, that such things are mutually exclusive, while God's Word clearly teaches both are true and are better viewed as two sides of the same coin.


Letter 28 summarizes the patient's perseverance in the faith thus far.  He has spiritually matured in his walk with the Lord, trusting Him more, relying on Him more, knowing Him more fully and thereby becoming better able to resist the attacks of Satan's forces.  Screwtape informs Wormwood, "He has escaped the worldly friends with whom you tried to entangle him; he has 'fallen in love' with a very Christian woman and is temporarily immune from your attacks on his chastity; and the various methods of corrupting his spiritual life which we have been trying are so far unsuccessful."

Now Screwtape suggests direct attacks to undermine his perseverance.  The patient has started out faithfully, but will he persevere to the end?  "The routine of adversity, the gradual decay of youthful loves and youthful hopes, the quiet despair (hardly felt as pain) of ever overcoming the chronic temptations with which we have again and again defeated them, the drabness which we create in their lives and the inarticulate resentment with which we teach them to respond to it all - all this provides admirable opportunities of wearing out a soul by attrition."  On the other hand, prosperity can also provide temptations for falling away. "Prosperity knits a man to the World.  He feels that he is 'finding his place in it', while really it is finding its place in him.  His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home on earth, which is just what we want."

Every believer wants to someday hear the Master say to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant."  Yet we don't always think about the perseverance necessary to reach that point.  It's always good to evaluate our prayer life, our hunger for God's Word, our willingness to identify sin and our quickness to repent of it, our love for the brethren, our joy in the Lord and our priorities in life.  There is no "coasting" involved in perseverance!

[Week #1; Week #8]