Heart-Changing Grace

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

Galatians 5:6

"In the book The Nature of True Virtue, Jonathan Edwards demonstrates that most moral people are complying to ethical standards mainly out of self-interest, pride, and fear.  He called this "common morality" and contrasted it with "true virtue," which flows from a life transformed by experiencing God's grace.  Edwards discerned a loving and joyful heart that acted not out of superiority, nor fear of consequences, but out of delight in God for the beauty of who God is in himself."

Tim Keller, "Preaching Amid Pluralism," Leadership (Winter 2002), 35.

Last evening in our gospel-centered discipleship class, we were discussing how one must be sanctified by faith.  In the class, our discussion revolved around the topic of how hard it is to believe that faith is what actually changes us.  We shared that the overarching concern by many is that if one emphasizes faith and grace as the drivers of change, then people will not walk in holiness.

The Misuse of "Faith"

One of the participants pressed this point by illustrating the arguments made by professing Christian folks who endorse and encourage monogamous homosexual relationships as good because we are all covered by grace and those in these relationship are showing love.  These folks argue that scripture that teaches against homosexuality is merely cultural while grace and love are universal.  Thus, these professing Christians argue in support of homosexual marriage because it illustrates "faith expressing itself through love."

The Misuse of "Law"

In response to such libertines, many other Christians have taken the exact opposite tact.  They have argued that the Law must be obeyed as proof of sanctification.  Soon, as they seek to follow the Law or "the Law of Christ" they struggle under and against the Law's commands.  If they do a better job then most, they become a self-righteous "helper of the weak" while if they fail they cover it up so as not to be exposed in their failings.  In hoping to steer clear of the shoals of absolute freedom that promotes sin (antinomianism or against the Law), they run their life toward the cliff of despair and self-righteousness that are found in legalism.

How do we escape both the shoals of antinomianism and the cliffs of legalism 

while remaining true within the current of the gospel?

The gospel transforms hearts through the process of repentance and faith.  

This means that we clearly teach that "There is a way that seems right to us, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 16:25.  In other words, we are sinful beings who always run away from God apart from His grace.  We prefer to break our relationship with God, with the way we are created to be, and with what is best for us because it "just feels right."  Because of these relational issues, we walk in sin.  All of the ways of the flesh, from our sinful self-effort and self-righteousness to our sins of inappropriate sexuality and anger, derive from our relational distance from God.  We need to repent of our heart's rebellion against God and cling by faith in Christ as our only cure.

Such teaching is found in every generation of the church.  It is the string that holds together the true Church.  Unfortunately, it is also followed and believed by only a small minority of professing believers.  

Why?

Because it feels like death to walk in faith and 

to rest in God's grace and beauty as all we need. 

It is much more comfortable to take control of our lives, either through "sanctifying" our sinful liberty or emphasizing our ethical behavior and effort as central.  Both of these tendencies reflect our inward desire and need for control.  

Faith means trusting God's control and love as enough.  

The only way we can have such faith is to know and believe that God's love and plan are good and sufficient.  The only way to know that in our heart (not just our head) is for our hearts and souls to be captured and enraptured by the beauty, perfection, and love of God.  Such heart transformation enables us to release our idols of control, self-reliance, fear, and pleasure because we want and know something better than our shallow idols.

How do we get such faith?  How do we know if we have it?

These are great questions.  Answering them in light of God's word is the path to life.  

Do you know your absolute need for grace?  Do you see the fruitless attempts at finding love, acceptance, and significance through your pursuit of control and pleasure apart from God?  Do you realize that your real problem is not your "fleshly desires" but the heart in rebellion against God that produces these desires that run contrary to true life?  Do you despair of even your attempts at doing good because you realize your mixed motives?  Do you feel like a fake and a poser because you know of the hypocrisy within you?

If so, repent and believe!  

Confess your sin, your rebellion, your sinful ways and cling to Jesus Christ as your only hope.

With eyes of faith, look upon Him and see forgiveness instead of condemnation.

Turn to Him for your satisfaction and life.  Repent of your idols.  Ask for grace to set them aside.  Allow the joy of Christ's presence to give you all you need.  Cling to the promises of God's word and ask the Spirit to make them true.

The Process of Transformation

I have to confess that I really wish true and lasting change happened instantaneously.  I wish all I had to do was some sort of formulaic chant and God would change me, however I asked to be changed, in an instant.

I think marketers have figured out that I am not alone with these desires.  I think there is something deep within each of us that wishes for paradise where we would not have to struggle so much for everything.  Yet instead, we toil away at changing or we ignore our need to change.

What prompts these thoughts?

I am back on a diet and exercise program!  I so wish I could just wake up tomorrow and my spare tire would be flat.  Every day I have times where I am hungry and after working out the past three weeks for six days a week, my muscles are still a bit sore.  I truly would like to not have these symptoms.

But, to lose weight in a healthy manner, I must go through a process.  I can't just lose my last ten pounds instantly, but I have to slowly take off a pound or two a week.  More than that and it would not be healthy.  I keep telling myself that, but I don't care.  I want to be changed right now!

Maybe I could make it easier.  

Maybe I could buy an ab machine that will flatten my abs in minutes while watching TV.  Maybe I could go on a crash diet of cabbage, seaweed, and Alpo for ten days and it would all be better.  Maybe I could just ask God to zap me and then I will wake up tomorrow at my goal.

Yet, experience tells me that none of these "maybes" will work.  Only daily faithfulness to a routine and following of my plan, which is by definition a blue-print of the process I laid out, will increase my muscle tone and shrink my fat.  Today I am between where I was and where I hope to be.  Yet, I take comfort and ask for God's grace to stick to the plan because I know the goal will be good!

How much of our inner transformation is like going on a diet and exercise plan?

We wait for something to change, for God to zap us, for a miracle "spirituality" machine.  But God has made us a people of process and often not a people of immediate transformation.

What type of plan can you lay out for the next six weeks to help you grow?  

Some of the more important and obvious means of growth are prayer, application of the gospel, reading and applying God's Word, and immersion in community.  What can you do with these areas?  What habits of transformation would you like to form over the next six weeks?

Gossip's Seductive Grasp

"Gossip is pornography of the mouth.  As cheap thrill that offers zero commitment to the person being objectified."

Scott Sauls

What a wonderful truth stated about an ugly sin.  While more could be said, this is great start!

Gossip has killed more relationships and destroyed more ministries than any other sin.  At its heart, gossip tears at someone's person.  It seeks to promote the one spreading it without reference to the other's real thoughts, motives, or even actions.

Gossip works in and through all the deadly sins.  It illustrates pride, lust, envy, anger, covetousness, sloth, and gluttony.  

Yet, it is often tolerated and even encouraged in the world system and in the church.

This should not be!  We need to repent of this sin and confess that we have used it way too much for our self-gratification.  We have 

Given false report;

believed our opinions are right without consulting others;

spoken about people and situations without knowing the facts (or even caring that we don't know the facts.  After all, it is just our opinion with are expressing);

passed on stories and opinions of others without regard for the person being talked about;

felt good about informing others of our opinions and what we perceive as the sins of others;

willingly listened to others as they expressed their anger/concern/frustrations without asking and demanding that the person talk directly to the one or the issue they have a problem with.

I think I could go on and on.  I was just giving some basic examples.  What can you think of that you have done to promote and encourage gossip?  You see gossip isn't just something done in the tabloids, it is something that springs from our convoluted heart.

Could you picture Jesus talking about others as you talk about them?  

He had perfect discernment and understood the human heart.  Yet, did he gossip?  Did he share the perceived sins of others with others like you do?

Why do we even do what we do?  How do we stop?  Repent of your actual sins of gossip.  Ask the Holy Spirit to change you from the inside out.  Confess your helplessness to change yourself and ask for the Spirit to transform your heart.  He will begin the process of answering that prayer!

Making Insiders and Outsiders

A second counterfeit form of spiritual maturity is outward appearance.  In his commentary on Romans, James Dunn noted that first-century rabbinic writing focused on dietary law, circumcision, and Sabbath keeping.  Why would the rabbis spend so much time on these ancillary aspects of the faith?

Because all groups want to define who is in the group and who is out.  Groups tend to establish "boundary markers" to make this distinction.  Sociologists define these markers as highly visible, relatively superficial practices- like dietary laws and Sabbath customs.

Conforming to boundary markers too often substitutes for authentic transformation.

The church I grew up in had its boundary markers.  A prideful or resentful pastor could have kept his job, but if ever the pastor was caught smoking a cigarette, he would've been fired.  Not because anyone in the church actually thought smoking a worse sin than pride or resentment, but because smoking defined who was in our subculture and who wasn't- it was a boundary marker.

Boundary markers change from culture to culture, but the dynamic remains the same.  If people do not experience authentic transformation, then their faith will deteriorate into a search for the boundary markers that masquerade as evidence of a changed life.

John Ortberg, "True (and False) Transformation," Leadership Summer 2002, 102.

Amen and Amen.

John Ortberg hits the nail on the head with this article and this quote.  What is amazing is that groups often cannot see that they have created an artificial boundary marker.  It is assumed.  It is part of the culture.  It is the very air they breathe.

Yet, outsiders can feel it immediately.

This is one of the primary reasons that churches do not grow!  Only people who outwardly conform to our boundary markers- before arriving at our church- will feel welcome and loved when with us.

Notice that the cause of our boundary markers is rooted and established in unbelief.  Because of a lack of individual and corporate  transformation, we consciously and unconsciously establish secondary boundary markers to define "true life."  Unfortunately, they have nothing to do with a transformed heart by the grace of Jesus Christ!

How do we escape these tendencies?

I think there are two ways to escape.  First, we can attack the ugliness of our boundary markers directly.  Then, folks will repent of our these idols when confronted with them.  Unfortunately, this rarely works.  Why?  To confront our boundary markers is to attack our "spirituality."  Even if it is false spirituality, it feels like life to those who practice it.

Such confrontation of false spirituality is what got Jesus killed.

The second means of escape is like the first, but it is a bit more subtle.  Instead of directly dealing with the false boundary markers in others, we merely proclaim, model, live out, and believe the real gospel of repentant, dependent faith.  Such faith always leads to transformation and joy.  From this position of life change, we can invite folks to something deeper and better than false boundary marker spirituality.

I wish I could say this always works.  Yet, my experience tells me that it works sometimes but not always.  Why?  People hold on to their false spirituality even when it does not work to produce transformation and joy.

Such gospel living and proclaiming is what got Jesus killed.

Even with these potential pitfalls and possible rejection, gospel-living and gospel-believing is the call of the True Church and all true believers is Jesus.  Authentic spirituality removes the need for defining who is inside and who is outside (also who is right and who is wrong).  It puts us all in the same boat of needing grace to be transformed by faith in Jesus as our source of life.

Are you willing to take up your cross and follow Jesus to promote this true spirituality?  What steps can you take to begin or further this promotion of the gospel over false boundary marker spirituality?

The Hidden Cause of Unfruitfulness

"Educators often refer to a concept called the hidden curriculum.  This concept suggests that in a classroom, there is a formal curriculum that includes things like math problems, writing assignments, or science experiments.  But there's also the hidden curriculum, which involves issues like who wants to sit next to whom, and who does the teacher look at, and who does the teacher tend to call on?

The hidden curriculum teaches students who matters and who does not, who's bright and who's left out.

If there is an inconsistency between the hidden curriculum and the formal curriculum, research shows that students always believe the hidden curriculum."

John Ortberg, "Speaking from my Holy of Holies," Leadership (Spring 2007), 40.

What we do says what we really mean.  The problem is that we often do not see what we are really doing!

While this is true in every pursuit in our fallen world, I find it particularly troubling in the world of ministry and Christian community.  We are called to be salt and light in the world.  We are called to love one another well.  We are called to live such holy lives that people will want to know the source of our life- the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet, we fall so short of these lofty callings!  Why?

Because what we do exposes our heart, and our hearts are not really in tune with God's designs and calling.

In other words, much of what passes for "ministry" is marked by a hidden agenda/curriculum.

We might say we want to reach out to new people, but our hidden agenda says we are a closed system that really does not want new people or ideas.  We might say we love families, but our hidden curriculum says that we really love a certain type of family (intact, white, smart, having it all together, who knows what else?).  We might claim we wish our church or ministry to grow, but our hidden agenda screams, "We only want you if you agree with us!"

New people who come into our ministry will pick up upon and believe the hidden curriculum more than the "official" statement of belief and intent.

What is the hidden curriculum/thought that dominates your life?  Your ministry?  Your church?  As I stated, we often cannot see it.  How can we discover what is hidden?

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you have eyes to see.  Humbly confess that you have blind spots that you need the Spirit to reveal.  Then ask for outside eyes to see what is really happening.  Pray.  Trust what the Spirit reveals.  Repent.  Ask for grace to change the hidden curriculum.  

Psalm 139: 23-24 is a great place to start the journey of identifying our hidden curriculum.  Why not join me in praying,

Search me, of God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

See if here be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Trials, Perseverance, and Maturity

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, wherever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." 

James 1: 2-5

The book of James is always interesting.  It is so law-centered that Martin Luther had no good place for it.  He suggested that it contradicts Paul, so he wished he could take it out of his bible, put it in his pipe and smoke it.

I think such talk was an example of Luther's use of exaggeration!  I think what he pointed to was our human tendency to make the Law something more than God intended.  Instead of being the tutor that leads us to Christ, we make it- to our own peril- the basis of our relationship with God.  Luther was combating this tendency throughout his ministry.  Thus, his dislike for the law-centered book of James!

Personally, I love the book of James.  It is a mirror to my soul, and I see within it my desperate need for a savior.  Truly without Jesus I would have no chance to be right with the Holy God!

Just look at the above passage.  "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of various kinds."  Really?  I do not look forward to trials, and I try to avoid them if possible.  Why would James say such a thing?

Well, first of all he was writing to believers in the midst of trials.  Folks were experiencing the beginnings of persecution.  More than that James knew something that many of us wish to forget or never know.  Trials develop us!  Trials grow us deeper and give us wisdom that can only be found through experience.

At least trials can achieve these goals if we approach them correctly.  James is encouraging us to approach trials with the correct perspective.

In my experience, trials either promote humility or bitterness.  Which one marks your life?  

Trials can promote an attitude of blaming God and turning away from a walk with Him, or they can produce an attitude of trusting him more (perseverance in our faith).  Which one marks your life? 

I have seen many trials and I am sure I will see many more.  I am thankful for God's faithfulness and grace that so far He has not allow bitterness and unbelief to dominate my life.  I know that the only true anchor and rock is my Lord and my God!  Not because I declare it or believe it, but because it is true.

The next few sentences of James are very interesting, and I have often puzzled over them.  "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." vs. 6  What does this mean?  It sounds so harsh!  Is this a new idea or part of the past one concerning trials, perseverance, and wisdom?  I believe it is part of the preceding idea. When you ask for wisdom, do not doubt it when you get it!  God will answer your prayer for wisdom, but do not doubt what He is trying to tell you.

I often find that people only move to a different place (spiritually, physically, emotionally, etc.) when pressed to do so.  Most of us would prefer to stay in a bad situation or place because it is more comfortable than the unknown.

Truly a body at rest, stays at rest.

God loves us so much that He knows what is best for us.  He knows our sin tendencies and our hang-ups.  He wants us to grow out of them because they are harmful to us.  He desires a great and promising future for us.  He wants to lead us to this future!  The question becomes will we follow His leading?  Most of the time no.  Thus, trials come to awaken our body at rest.

I think this is the answer to James' thoughts concerning doubt.  We all doubt many things.  This is a natural consequence of our fallen state.  Doubt is a broad category, and this passage is not saying that all doubt is bad.  When doubt leads to questions, it is often good because we will find the answers in Christ!

The key to understanding this passage is in the context of praying for wisdom.  When we pray for wisdom, we should not doubt it when we hear it.  Through God's word, inner impulses and instruction, and most importantly the counsel of others, we can hear God's voice.  When we hear it, often we are like Gideon or Moses and we say, "You have the wrong guy!"  Unfortunately, some of us are not as honest as Gideon and Moses.  We don't talk back to God and question Him.   No, we ignore His leading and voice.  Then, we wonder why trials keep coming and why God does not change our current situation to meet our needs.  

"When we ask, we must believe and not doubt."  Again let me say, God loves us so much that He wants what is best for us.  We are so short-sighted that we simply do not know what is best for us.  In our pride, we think we do know what is best, but often we are wrong.  

May the Lord lead and guide each of us.  May we learn to walk with Him through the trials and difficulties that naturally come from living in a fallen world.  May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven for His glory.  Ask for wisdom and believe His love and grace for you!  Who knows what blessings you are missing out on because of your lack of believing.

Growing in Dependence and Grace

"In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength,

but you would have none of it." 

Isa. 30: 15

How do we grow in our relationship with God?  How do walk in victory in Christ?

On the one hand is the advice of much American Christianity.  Protect yourself!  Be pure!  Be careful!

How does that work for the new convert who is trying to exit a life of worldliness or sin?  How does that work for the religiously self-righteous person who cannot see how their self effort keeps them from trusting God?

What is an example of this teaching?  While I like much that is said in the book, the first few chapters of Mark Bubeck's The Adversary contain such teaching.  The first few chapters explain and magnify what   we must do to keep pure. Without our purity and wisdom, we will fall headlong into the devil's schemes.  These schemes come from the totally corrupt "world system" and many hapless Christians have fallen prey to worldliness thus losing their salvation (23-24).  The last part can only be inferred as he does not come right out and say it, but the context dictates it.

Perhaps the greatest idol of American religion and American Christianity is our fascination with self.  We do not need to be lured by the "world" into a self-centered life because the church and our own flesh does a fine job encouraging it.  Of course if you have an accurate understanding of "the world" that includes all non God-centered thoughts and philosophies as "worldly" such a declaration will not shock you.  You will realize that much of what passes for Biblical religion is really rehashed worldly thought.  Instead of promoting faith and trust, we often promote self-righteous dependence upon our own efforts.

One test of spiritual truth we should teach in every evangelical church: Our life must be God-centered, Christ-centered, and dependent upon the Holy Spirit-centered in its thought and application.

Does my religion promote a trust in myself or a dependence upon God?  Do my religious thoughts promote authentic humility, which is confident trust in God and despair of self, or do they promote self-effort as a means of growth?  These are questions church leaders and each individual Christian should  ask themselves daily as we read God's word and pray each day.

In today's passage from Isaiah, we see God's take on self-centered religion as opposed to authentic spirituality.  On the one side is Israel rejecting God's ways and running off to Egypt for help against her enemies.  To those folks, God declares they will get what they want.  They will trust in Egypt and Egypt will fail them.  

On the other side is that of authentic spirituality.  "In repentance and rest is your salvation."  Repentance means crying out to God for help.  We have the promise that God "longs to have compassion on us."  He will be our teacher if we just repent of our self-effort and rest in Him.  He will change our hearts so that we do not desire sin but His presence and holiness.  As we walk in repentance and faith, the life changing power of God flows!

Furthermore, "In quietness and trust is your strength."  God is able to save from Israel's enemies.  He is able to save us from our natural inclinations toward sin and from the world that activates our desires.  Do we believe it?

I have heard it said often that Christian spirituality believes, "If it is going to be, it is up to me."  Really?  Anything lasting and real must come from God and His work.  We can trust him and quietly depend upon Him.  Such humility is our strength.

So, how do we do it?  How do we "train" ourselves to live this way?

I call it active passivity.  We must actively repent of our self-effort and attempts to control our situation.  Such repentance runs contrary to our sinful nature.  It seems like death to us!  Yet, it is the doorway into true life and into God's power.  We actively repent and believe in what God has done and will do.  This is resting in and under God's righteousness given to us in Christ.  It passively receives Christ's righteousness and power as its own.

Do you long for God's reviving hand in your life?  Do you wish that God's power would flow through you to bring about His kingdom?  Do you desire to see your friends, family, church, and community changed by the power of God?  Repent of self-effort to bring this about and believe the gospel.  Ask that God would open hearts and opportunities.  Rest in His mighty power and love for you and others.  Trust in His love and power.  Actively quiet yourself before Him.  As you do, you will find that you are participating in what God is doing instead of asking Him to bless what you do.

What does it mean to be a follower Jesus?

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Colossians 2: 6-7

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

I have been challenged by this question many times over the years by fellow believers who make some rather strange statements about what it means to follow Jesus.  While I do not doubt these folk's sincerity, I do question there theological wisdom!  Here are some examples of what I have heard.

To be a follower of Jesus means to follow his teaching.  It means to live a moral and upright life.  It means to love others.  It means to be his agent of change in the world.

While I agree with these general statements, I have two questions.  First, what is His teaching?  Second, how do I do these things?

I am not asking these questions merely to be a pain.  I think so many people never really think about it.  They have been brought up in church or they became part of a church.  They pick up from the general belief systems of other believers and from the messages preached that they need to get out and do something in the world.  The most natural thing to do is work hard to be a better a person.  We know we should work hard to be humble, to love others, to bring light to the dark world, to etc., etc..

Is that what Jesus really taught?  

A sidebar to this discussion is a belief that says Jesus is a second chance.  He is our ticket into heaven.  Belief in him wipes the slate clean, and makes us responsible to live a godly life.

I have heard this line of thought from many different denominations and I have heard the general message preached and proclaimed from many pulpits.  Yet, is this what Jesus taught?

He said, "Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches."  John 15: 4-5

How do we abide?  By our works or by faith?  Are these mutually exclusive categories or do they somehow work together in the process of transformation?

I think the often missing ingredient in our spirituality is the concept of repentant faith.  How did we receive Jesus Christ as Lord (to clarify the quote from Paul that I started with)?  We receive him by repenting of our sins and by embracing Jesus by faith.  This same process is how we are to be built up and established in Jesus by faith.  

In other words, faith is not merely our ticket into a relationship with Jesus, but it is the means of growth.  Without a growing faith, we will not be able to live a moral life, love others, or be an agent of change in the world.

With all of this in mind, what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

A follower of Jesus Christ is in a growing relationship of dependence upon Jesus.  This dependence is evidenced by a growing understanding of our sinfulness, which drives us to repentance and a clinging to Jesus as our only hope.  Such repentance and faith then works out in our life as a growing humility and a deeper ability to love and serve others.  

Fruit 30, 60, 100 Times what was sown...

"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Matthew 13: 23

This week I am preparing a message for First Seattle concerning a vision for the future.  Like many churches, First has lived through a period of decline.  Like many churches, we have attempted to arrest this decline through a variety of methods, but none have produced growth.  

I believe the simple question we must ask is why?  Why do we find ourselves here?

There are always many reasons for any action.  A long-term trend has even more reasons.  As I talk with people, I can focus on three or four major issues that have helped bring about the decline in membership at First.  I believe most churches can point to at least this many reasons for their plateau or decline over the past couple of decades.

The problem is that we cannot go back and fix the past.  Poor decisions were made.  Poor execution of decisions occurred.  So what?  

Early in my ministry a wise church revitalizer/church planter encouraged me to focus 90% of my time on bringing new people into the church and 10% of my time worrying about the people who left.  This is sound advice!  I might actually practice a 95/5 split, but the idea is the same.

Have apologies been made to those who were hurt by poor decisions and poor execution of decisions?  In our case, the answer is by and large yes.  What else can be done?  Nothing.  It is time to move on.  Unfortunately, many church and many individuals cannot move on.  They prefer to "work on their issues" and stay where they are.

Jesus made the Christian life simple.  We make it difficult and convoluted.  

Seed placed in good soil will produce fruit.  It will bear fruit that results in a good harvest.  Seed on good soil produces a return that is multiplied by what is sown.  It does not merely replicate itself, but produced 30, 60, or 100 times what is sown.

Why have we reduced this instruction to something merely personal, individual, and at best additional instead of multiplicational?  

What do I mean?  We have made the individual Christian life virtually the entire work of salvation.  We make church survival (in terms of maintaining numbers and ministries) our vision.

This vision is too small.  Such a vision sells short what the Holy Spirit can do within the life of an individual and a church.  When the gospel falls upon good soil, it produces a harvest that multiplies the planting.  It will produce 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.

Do you see this multiplying growth in your life or the life of the church?  Perhaps it is not from lack of effort, but lack of focus on what is truly important.  

In this parable, the issue is not the amount of work/effort, but the quality of the soil.  Good soil produces good return.  Poor soil produces little if any return.  

Are you and is your church good soil for the gospel?  If not, pray for Holy Spirit fertilizer.  Pray the Lord removes the rocks and thorns from your harvest patch.  Repent and believe the promises.  Ask that the Lord will transform the soil.  Individually and corporately, do not be satisfied until the harvest is counted by multiplication.

God is not through building His Kingdom.  He wishes to use you.  He wishes to use your church.  May we be good soil!

Elements of Worship Renewal

What is worship all about?  I have found that in America there are two different schools of thought concerning how to answer this question.

The first group answers that worship is a "service unto God."  The object and goal of worship is to honor and glorify God.  As a result, worship is God-focused.  It is not about the worshipper, but the God who is worshipped.

The second group answers that worship is a "time to lay your burdens down and be encouraged."  The object and goal of worship for these folks is to provide excitement, emotional release, and a feeling of God's presence.  Here worship is about the worshipper having their needs met.

Anyone who has eyes to see can and should understand that I just set up a straw man argument.  I presented two views of worship that are easily torn down because both are not complete.  Who actually holds these views and articulates them this way?  The answer is virtually no one.  Yet, ... the proof of what we believe is not merely what we say, but also what we do.  While virtually no one would articulate either of these two extremes about worship, many churches and individuals act like they believe it!

How about a new definition?  One that provides a balance?  Worship is a time for individuals and communities of faith to meet with God.

Worship must be God focused.  It also must be done in such a way to encourage and promote active engagement with God's presence.

Is such worship possible?  Of course it is!  It is also necessary for revival and renewal both individually and corporately.  Notice the following quote from a contemporary writer.

"This extra "glimpse of God" is what most of us crave.  With any experience of God's nearness comes all the blessings of God's divine nature: renewal, power to change, deliverance, comfort, joy, and peace.  It is no coincidence that these are the very things for which the world is longing and searching." Sally Morgenthaler's Worship Evangelism: 

Inviting Unbelievers into the presence of God, 97-98

Are you in a worshipping community where you enter into the presence of God each week?  I find it interesting that many of us are not worshipping in such a place.  Instead, we rationalize that we are "not one of those worship junkies" who insist on feeling God's presence.  We are more mature.

I would challenge that if we do not find God's presence in worship and we are content with it, then we might not be as mature as we think!  

I love how scripture affirms a biblical desire for God.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

Ps. 42:1-2

As people we were made to enjoy the presence of God.  When you get a taste of God's presence in Christ, it is addicting.  It is satisfying.  It is life.  Who does not want more life, peace, joy and love deep within their soul?

One of the greatest attractions of worship is when a community create a place where individuals can meet with God.  I know we can meet with God anywhere, but the time and space of worship together in community is often where we experience God's presence in a deep and real sense.  I believe such an experience can be felt and experienced even by non-believers.

My actual experience verifies this claim.  At my former church, Grace Bible Church in Maine, I often heard from visitors that they "felt" the presence of God while with us in worship.  This observation was made from believers and unbelievers,  first-time visitors and long-time attenders, and everything in between.  We were not a "large church" by the standards of worldly judgment, but God did work through and in our worship.

I also have experienced this phenomena in many other growing churches.  In fact, I could argue that such an experience of God's presence in worship is a mark of a growing and thriving church.

So, how do we move/grow a church so this experience of God's presence is felt even by unbelievers?

This is a tricky question.  God cannot be manipulated to "show up" like magic.  Yet, I think and I have experienced several traits of churches that have worship renewal.

First, these churches pray for this experience and presence.  They also come anticipating meeting with God.  These churches are filled with people who ask that the Lord's presence be known, and they are marked by a directed prayer ministry that asks the Lord to work through and in worship.  There is also an expectation that God will move and speak.

Second, these church have people who are called and gifted to lead worship.  These folks may not be the best musicians in the church, but they love to worship.  They have all the traits above, and they ask the Lord to work through them to touch hearts.

Please notice, I said gifted and called.  How do we tell this?  These folks have an inner call to lead worship, they have external call from a group to help them lead worship, and the Lord blesses their work by showing up!

The last mark of calling is the trickiest.  Who determines this?  Does someone's best friend get to say, "The Lord blessed your leading/playing today"?  Is it only the Elder's job to determine this?  Unfortunately/fortunately churches are often full of encouraging folks.  They encourage effort as much or more than results.  Could this skew the data in determining God's blessings on their work?

Of course it can!  The real and ultimate proof is God's presence being known to believers and un-believers, long-time members and first-time visitors.  Such proof cannot be ascertained in any given Sunday, but should be measured over the course of time.

What does this mean?  Finding, developing, and encouraging worship renewal is essential for a growing church.  As individuals we can pray.  As churches we can lovingly search for and encourage those who are blessed to help lead such renewal.  Is this easy?  No.  Is it fool-proof?  No.  Yet it is essential for worship evangelism and worship renewal to take place.

I would love thoughts and opinions on this topic.  As you can see, I am working through my thoughts, so help me grow by sharing yours!

Revival for the Spiritually Dead

"Go and say to this people:

'Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'

Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy,

and blind their eyes, lest they see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed."

Isa. 6: 9-10

As a pastor, I have served churches in many parts of the United States.  I have also served as a witness for Christ in a 10 week summer mission trip to southeast Asia.  Lord willing, I hope to be a witness for Christ in many other parts of the world in the next 20 years.  In every place I have gone, I have seen people come to know Jesus and others who have been completely hardened to the gospel.

Why is there such a range of response to the gospel?

In the passage above, Isaiah has just seen the Lord, and he has fallen before Him.  The Lord took a burning coal, touched his lips, and made him a vessel ready to bring the Word of the Lord.  In other words, Isaiah just experienced repentance and faith from seeing his true condition before the Holy God and calling out for mercy.  Such a cry the Lord always answers.

After this conversion, Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord asking, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"  Notice the plural "us", which demonstrates the multiple personhood of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  In response to this question, Isaiah says, "Here am I!  Send me."  The above passage is the message the Lord gives Isaiah.

So, why do some believe the message of the gospel and others reject it?  

The human condition apart from God's grace is that of deaf, blind, and hard-hearted to spiritual truth.  As Paul says, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins."  Dead people cannot respond to outside stimuli.  The meaning of "being dead" is that they can not respond.  Once dead, the only way someone can respond again is to be made alive again.  

I know this biblical teaching goes against what so many of us wish to believe.  Yet it is true.  We are dead to our true spiritual situation unless the Lord opens our eyes, unstops our ears, and changes our hearts.  When He does, we turn or repent and we find healing.  

Being spiritually dead does not mean that we do not have a measure of a free will.  

We can love our families and friends.  We can be honest.  We can be generous.  We can have good self-control.  We can even give up drinking or anything else we call a vice.  In other words, we are not robots.  Being created in the image of God gives us great gifts and abilities.

What does it mean to be spiritually dead?

Being spiritual dead means we do not have the gift of faith.  It is now dead; and as a result, we can neither honestly repent before God nor can we place trusting faith in the living God. Such faith is foreign to our fallen human nature.  It is something that makes no sense.  At least it makes no sense unless God's grace changes something within our heart that allows us to freely choose to repent and believe the gospel.

The greatest need for people everyone is God-given revival.

Revival, or "spiritual awakening" is not something that we can bring about by our efforts.  It is not changing someone's morality.  It is not helping them to have a better, more positive outlook.

Revival is God's work in bringing redemption to individuals.  As individuals are transformed, they work to bring God's righteous love and grace to their lives, their surroundings, and the world.

Revival is God's work, God's way.

The Law's Path toward Holiness

Thanksgiving week is upon us!  I am looking forward to the time with friends and family.  I also pray I get some time to get into the wilderness chasing some ducks and geese.  For this to happen, I have to get everything I typically do in a week completed in three days.  I love holidays!

This morning all I could think about was all I had to do today.  I tried unsuccessfully to write, but it just would not come.  Thankfully the baby is now waking up one time a night instead of two or three, so I hope and pray my brain will start to heal.  Until that time, I might be reposting!

I am thankful for several hundred good posts that I can turn to.  I found this one rather encouraging as I re-read it.  I pray you also find it so!

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure, 

making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb,

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward,

Who can discern his errors?

Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;

let them not have dominion over me!

Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

Ps. 19: 7-13

This morning I had the privilege of meeting with the Lord for a great time of uninterrupted and quiet prayer.  Thankfully, I was brought to think about and meditate upon this passage of scripture.  The Lord is so good, gentle, and loving toward me.  

But, what does this mean?

The Lord is found and enjoyed when we have that great experience of joy and love found in His presence.  I will affirm that this experience is wonderful!  The beauty of enjoying the Lord's loving presence is beyond words.  It is more to be desired than much fine gold.  It is sweeter than honey.

Aw, but here is where the difficulty in description comes in.  How can you explain the sweetness of honey unless you have experienced it?  Jonathan Edwards used this terminology and description to describe the beauty of Christ found in the gospel.  He affirmed that the only way to truly know the sweetness of honey is to take it and eat it.  In short, words cannot describe the sensation adequately.

So how is the Lord to be found?  Most likely He is found, felt, and tasted as we come in repentance and faith.  As we come acknowledging our lack of resources and our great need, He comes to meet that need. This is why we often find His presence and peace at times of first faith and at times of trouble.  At those times we bring nothing to the table but our lack and brokenness.  God responds with His presence and peace.

So what does that mean for the rest of life?

Here is where the Law comes into play.  Not only is the Law the revealed Word of God, it is also very humbling.  It revives the soul, gives wisdom, brings rejoicing and enlightenment, not because it somehow teaches us so we can just "do it."  It performs these tasks by humbling us so we can see our need for Christ.  In other words, the real love of Christ is found often mere seconds and minutes after He humbles us with convicting words and thoughts.  Please do not short-circuit tasting grace by refusing to be convicted of sin and need!

Does this mean that we do not grow in holiness?  By no means!  We will find that as we walk in repentance and faith, we do obey more and more of the Law.  Increasing obedience happens through inner transformation in response to repentance and faith.  As a result of tasting the sweetness found in Christ's love and forgiveness, we see beauty in the Law instead of condemnation.  Truly the Law is the path of true life!  In keeping the Law there is great reward.

Yet, notice where the Psalmist goes after praising the Lord.  He follows it up with humble repentance.  

"Lord who can discern his errors?"  In other words, Lord, have mercy upon me!

What errors?  Both our hidden and our presumptuous sins.  Lord, forgive and keep me from them!  In his final phrase, the Psalmist proclaims that he will then "be innocent of great transgression."  

Is he not mature?  Of course the Psalmist is a mature believer!  Maturity means coming to see how deep our sin problem really goes.  It means allowing the grace of God to search deep within us to point out how much we really need grace.  In fact, maturity means we know, we feel, we profess, we live out our need for grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

How many of us actually "feel" this is true of us?  My guess is few who actively profess Christ.  We have not been taught that repentance is the mark of true spirituality.  We replace the joy of the Lord's presence in daily life with becoming "thrill seekers" who are always looking for the right worship experience to bring those feeling back.

Friends, the real presence is found in humility as expressed in repentance and faith.  The Law, when used properly, will draw us to repentance and faith.  Christ's love, mercy, and presence can be experienced and known even today.  May this day be marked by active repentance and faith for each of us!

Spiritual Warfare- The Flesh

This morning I have an early appointment for my daughter and then a trip to the airport to drop off my mother from her visit.  Where is the time to write?  There is none!  As we move along in the topic of spiritual warfare, we come to our battle against the flesh.  Today's post is one of my favorites I have written on this blog concerning the nature of the flesh.

The flesh is the fallen dimension of our body, soul, and mind.  It is not something separate from the "good part" of us, but it is mixed within every element of our life and thought.  I like to think of our flesh as the Trojan Horse that allows the enemy into our life.  We have a willing accomplice to the schemes of the world and devil- it is us!  

How does this accomplice work?  Read on and tell me what you think.

"If by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live." 

Rom 8:13

How do we change?  In the past sixty years, since the publishing of Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking (1952), Americans have been driven by self-improvement.  We have bought the books, wear the T-shirts, and live the life of self improvement.  Unfortunately, most of us do not think about how this view of human nature impacts our understanding of the message of Christ and the gospel.

What do I mean?  Because of our cultural fascination with self-help, many folks naturally interpret the above quotation from Paul as encouraging us to resolve, with the help of the Spirit, to improve.  In fact, our churches, in particular suburban churches, are filled with people marked by strong character and morality.  These folks also are often career-minded and perfectionists.  For many of us, we have learned and have become proficient at controlling our environment through hard work, focus, and planning.  Many of us are successful at our chosen career or life path because of these traits.

Because of this strength and our success, one of the greatest dangers to our spiritual life lies like a rattle snack coiled and ready to strike at our heart.

Where is the danger in our strength and success?  Our flesh or sinful nature has two sides.  One is open rebellion.  O.K. we have checked this one off as not the problem.  The other is much more dangerous and secretive.  It is religious self-effort.  This is effort that does not depend upon God, but trusts in our own will-power and strength to change us.  

What does this look like?  There are a myriad of examples!!  One I know all too well is how most of us diet.  If we need to lose 5 or even 15 pounds, many of us discipline ourselves, change our exercise problem, eat better, and will/pull ourselves to the finish line.  We are strong, goal-oriented people!  We can do it.

Unfortunately, even if we succeed, most of us look great for the reunion, but then gain back all the weight and more in the next six months!  How are we undone?  

We exercise and eat right.  We read books about diet.  We do well.  Then the Little Debbie snack cake appears in the middle of the afternoon when we are hungry.  We take a bite.  We eat the rest.  It is so good!  The sugar does great things for our attitude.  We now start thinking about food and sweets again.  We might talk the talk with our friends and family, but we are secret eaters!  Then at a barbecue, a vacation, or a buffet we finally throw off the act and eat like we wanted to.  We keep it up.  Eventually we have regained our weight.  We envy those with the strength to keep it up.  

What happened?  When it comes to over-eating, we never dealt with our heart issues.  Why do we over-eat?  Does it give us comfort?  Do we really hate ourselves?  Do we believe we deserve to be unattractive and fat?  Or do we just like food?  Is our eating a good good and balanced desire for God's good gifts?  In other words, we rarely ask ourselves or God why we have these desires.

Deep within us is a very real need to find our core affirmation and love in our relationship with God.  John Calvin tells us that faith was one of the items completely lost in the fall.  I have often found this observation intriguing.  Don't we not all know that God exists and call upon Him in need?  Yes, we do.  The problem is really believing and resting in His love for us.  Such a faith is radically different than calling upon Him in a time of trial.  It is not momentary and fleeting but abiding.  It is based upon repentance of and from our self-effort as well as a faith or trust in the completed work of Christ.  

How do we change the heart?  Ultimately, faith is life-changing because it is heart-changing.  With the flesh, we cannot defeat the flesh.  It will always work behind the scenes to undo us.  The only way to defeat the flesh is to allow the Spirit to deal with our heart.  We cannot deal with our heart on our own!  When our internal desires change, our behavior changes in healthy and good ways.  It truly changes.  We do not have to "keep up  appearances" but we truly want holiness and God's presence.  We find our deepest needs met in the Lord and the sensual sins and the control sins are no longer attractive because they do not satisfy!

Such a faith is receiving Christ's finished work and His love.  It is actively passive before the Lord.  

What does this look like in real life?  I think of Nehemiah.  He was a man of action, but also of faith.  He cried out to God to help him change things.  I can picture him circling the broken walls of Jerusalem talking to God about what needs to be done.  Praying for the grace to find help.  Praying for help in organizing.  Asking for mercy to protect the Jews from their enemies.  The old monastic tradition had a saying of "work and pray."  I ask each of us, do we pray as we labor or do we work and then ask God to bless?

Like losing weight, our will-power and our strength will only get us so far.  God must change our hearts and minds by His grace so that we can love Him and others well.  

"If by the flesh you put to death the misdeeds of the body," will not work.  It might give an appearance of working for awhile, but it does not deal with our heart and soul.  In the end, it will lead to either self-righteousness or guilty failure.

May we depend upon the Lord this day as "By the Spirit" we walk in grace and truth "putting to death the misdeeds of the body."

Today's Compelling Story of Grace

At my church, we have just completed the fifth week of an eight week segment concerning outreach in a postmodern world.  I have greatly enjoyed the discussion.  Yet, I know that nothing I will say in these discussions will change anything if the folks in my church do not grasp the present value of the gospel in their lives.

What do I mean?  In Classis this past week, a fellow pastor stood up and shared his experiences in the CRC and our outreach efforts.  He shared that since the mid-1980s, we have twice the amount of the churches we once did with the result of hundreds of thousands less on our membership roles.  He shared that we have raced after different outreach models- the Crystal Cathedral, Willow Creek, Saddleback- and still nothing changed.  Finally, he concluded that none of us know how to reach out into this culture and that evangelism is next to impossible.  Why?  All we do is shift the sheep from smaller to larger churches.

Well then.  What incredible sadness this brings me.  Yet, I believe he is stating the truth- he has no idea how to reach out and most likely his church has no idea how to reach those in our post-modern culture.

This does not mean it is impossible!  It means that he needs better self-understanding and a better understanding of how our culture thinks and processes truth.  Outreach is impossible if we insist on using the same old forms and church processes that illustrate a lack of adequate self-understanding and a lack of acknowledgment that our culture has changed.

Today I wish to focus on one dimension of this problem.  I wish to help us gain some self-understanding by presenting how the gospel must be a present day issue and not a story of some long-ago past.

I was thinking today of how often believers in Christ do not present a compelling story of God's powerful work in their lives.  I know that years ago, 1988 to be exact, God entered into my life in dramatic and powerful ways.  He transformed me by His grace.  He brought me to faith, and I could not help but declare His presence and truth to all who would listen.

At that time, people could easily see God's work in my life and my story was compelling.  Many came to faith and many more were open to listening to the gospel because of my story.  I praise God for remembering these wonderful times!

Yet, as time went on my story grew more stale and less compelling.  Telling freshman in college my experience of three years ago did not have the weightiness that it did before.  Why?  I was a different person and my story of the past lost its luster.  I was sharing a history lesson instead of a present reality.

After leaving college, my personal witness for Christ remained fairly lame for years.  I did see some come to faith, but I also lost confidence in witnessing because it seemed no one really cared about my old, and growing older, story of God's work.  The incredible fruitfulness of my first love of Christ slowly died away.

How about you?  Does my story match your experience?

It took time, but I finally learned how to escape my barren witnessing.  How?  I learned that the gospel of Christ's love and grace is new every morning.  I learned that people were still interested in what God is doing even as they were skeptical and bored with that God had done decades ago.

I know that many believers in Christ have not been encouraged to think in these terms.  I offer the advice that if you wish your life and witness to count in the building of the Kingdom, you might need to change your thinking.  The gospel story of grace given to sinners applies to each of us daily!

Where in your life are you struggling with sin?  Please understand that these struggles are not about your lack of will-power.  You lack will-power because your heart or soul is not right.  In other words, your daily struggle with sin is due to your lack faith or trust in Christ to meet your needs and give you life.  Instead of resting in Christ's love, we look to other sources for life, peace, acceptance, and joy.

The prophet Jeremiah describes this very human condition well.  He declares from the Lord,

My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me,

the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Jeremiah 2:13

Friends, this is the heart of sin and rebellion from God.  It also matches the reality of all fallen humans!  It sure matches my life.  What can be done about it?  I can try to ignore the truth.  I can attempt to diminish its reality.  I can compare myself to others and assure myself I am better than they are.  I have tried all of these and they surely do not change me.  All I get from these attempts is self-delusion and self-righteousness.

I offer that there is another answer.  I should repent of my sin and believe in Jesus as my only hope.  I should ask for and receive His love and grace.  I should allow this grace to transform my heart.  This is not merely the road to conversion, but also the less taken path to transforming daily grace.

When I walk in repentance and faith, I have a new story to tell.  A new story of repentance and faith from today.  A fresh tale of God's redemptive work in my life.  A compelling story that matches the experience of all.

May the Lord lead us to repentance and faith today and this new week so we have a living and active witness to God's grace!

Bearing Fruit and the Kingdom of God

"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Matthew 13: 23

This week I am preparing a message for First Seattle concerning a vision for the future.  Like many churches, First has lived through a period of decline.  Like many churches, we have attempted to arrest this decline through a variety of methods, but none have produced growth.  

I believe the simple question we must ask is why?  Why do we find ourselves here?

There are always many reasons for any action.  A long-term trend has even more reasons.  As I talk with people, I can focus on three or four major issues that have helped bring about the decline in membership at First.  I believe most churches can point to at least this many reasons for their plateau or decline over the past couple of decades.

The problem is that we cannot go back and fix the past.  Poor decisions were made.  Poor execution of decisions occurred.  So what?  

Early in my ministry a wise church revitalizer/church planter encouraged me to focus 90% of my time on bringing new people into the church and 10% of my time worrying about the people who left.  This is sound advice!  I might actually practice a 95/5 split, but the idea is the same.

Have apologies been made to those who were hurt by poor decisions and poor execution of decisions?  In our case, the answer is by and large yes.  What else can be done?  Nothing.  It is time to move on.  Unfortunately, many church and many individuals cannot move on.  They prefer to "work on their issues" and stay where they are.

Jesus made the Christian life simple.  We make it difficult and convoluted.  

Seed placed in good soil will produce fruit.  It will bear fruit that results in a good harvest.  Seed on good soil produces a return that is multiplied by what is sown.  It does not merely replicate itself, but produced 30, 60, or 100 times what is sown.

Why have we reduced this instruction to something merely personal, individual, and at best additional instead of multiplicational?  

What do I mean?  We have made the individual Christian life virtually the entire work of salvation.  We make church survival (in terms of maintaining numbers and ministries) our vision.

This vision is too small.  Such a vision sells short what the Holy Spirit can do within the life of an individual and a church.  When the gospel falls upon good soil, it produces a harvest that multiplies the planting.  It will produce 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.

Do you see this multiplying growth in your life or the life of the church?  Perhaps it is not from lack of effort, but lack of focus on what is truly important.  

In this parable, the issue is not the amount of work/effort, but the quality of the soil.  Good soil produces good return.  Poor soil produces little if any return.  

Are you and is your church good soil for the gospel?  If not, pray for Holy Spirit fertilizer.  Pray the Lord removes the rocks and thorns from your harvest patch.  Repent and believe the promises.  Ask that the Lord will transform the soil.  Individually and corporately, do not be satisfied until the harvest is counted by multiplication.

God is not through building His Kingdom.  He wishes to use you.  He wishes to use your church.  May we be good soil!

Revival Through Worship Renewal

"Why has becoming a worshiper been so important to my life and my ministry?

First, it taught me what worship is and isn't.  Once I had thought of worship as a style of music.  Now I see it as an attitude of the heart.  As a pastor leading others in worship, I needed to focus on the heart, not the style."

Kevin Bidwell, "A Stronger Heart for Worship," Leadership (Summer 2000), 115.

Seems so simple, doesn't it?  Why do so many of us miss this?

Throughout the 1970s into the 80s, the worship wars reigned within the church.  Jesus Christ should be reigning always, but style of worship was all too often front and center.  Churches rose and fell depending upon their style of music.  Or was it about style?

I believe that every 10-20 years the church goes through a time of worship renewal.  A different style of worship becomes popular because it works in one place so others attempt to copy it.  

How do we copy authentic worship?  We reduce worship to style of music or format.  We think this is the heart of worship.  We critique others according to our preferences and tastes.  Today, worship renewal movements are pushing weekly communion, rearrangement of old hymns to a worship band, ritual, candles, a return to "old-fashioned worship" and who knows what else.

While I approve of some of these distinctives, none of them are true worship.

True worship occurs when God shows up to meet with His people.  His presence promotes humility and brokenness, which brings dependent faith.  As we gather in repentance and faith, God's Spirit glorifies the Son and the Father.  Such an outpouring of the Spirit can be felt and known even by the most hardened of sinners.  In such a place, true worship occurs.

Such worship can occur with any style of music and with any format.  It can also elude a congregation or an individual no matter what style or format is favored.  

Why?  True worship is the product of hearts transformed by grace.  It is not the cause.

How do we bring worship renewal?  The gospel of grace and mercy must be central in all we do.  Repentance and humility must not only be proclaimed, but also believed and lived.  As dependence upon Christ is believed and lived, prayer will grow in richness and length.  Expectation for God's presence will build.  The Word will become increasingly alive and active.  Souls will be transformed.

Where do we begin?  Focus on your heart.  Repent of self-effort and believe.  Cultivate your faith.  Pray for growth and learn humility.  Pray that God will be found in corporate worship.  Pray for your church's worship leaders.  Pray they learn to enjoy God's presence.  Pray for souls to be awakened.

Seems so simple, doesn't it?  Why do so many of us miss this?

Changing Habits by Changing the Heart

I am currently on a diet.  I really hate being on a diet!  I like to eat because I enjoy food.  Being on a diet means I do not get to eat all the types and quantities of food that I would wish.  For me, being on a diet is no fun.

Yet, I need to lose some weight so I can be healthy.  Since discovering my gluten issues, I have put on a few too many pounds.  Now I need to lose about 30 pounds to get back to the weight I was when I got married at age 22.  What happened?  For the first time in memory, my body actually digests food, so I cannot eat 4000 calories a day and stay the same weight.  I also changed the way I eat.  Since wheat is out, corn and potatoes entered the picture.  All I can say is that they do not feed corn and potatoes to fatten up livestock for no reason!

What is really needed?  I need to change my habits.  In order to change my habits, I need to have my heart changed.  I know from the past that my will-power will not work through the many weeks needed to lose 30 pounds.  I will need plenty of grace to help me make it!

So, how will I change and how do any of us change?  In my experience, it takes three days to make most surface changes.  To change your diet, three days.  To change exercise patterns, three days.  Three days of will-power and you can change many patterns.  The key is that you really have to want to change.  

I also have found that three weeks of pattern change often changes our character.  In other words, keep doing what you change for three days for three weeks and you will find your desires for the old behavior are lessened.  

Many say they want to lose weight.  Yet, they eat horribly.  The reality is that they like junk food more than they wish to lose weight.  Three days and you can change patterns!  Three weeks and you are different!

If you fall off the wagon, remember it is only three days of will-power.  Remind yourself of your goal.  Stop yourself from your destructive patterns for three days.  On day four, it will be easier!

So where does God fit into all this?  I ask Him constantly for the will-power to make it three days!  I talk with Him constantly about my desire to give up the chips for better health.  I ask Him to change my desires.  In other words,

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight." 

Proverbs 3: 5-6 

In the process of making surface changes, I also ask the Lord to help me see why I do what I do.  What really motivates me?  What truly causes my surface sins?  I have to admit the answers to these questions are often elusive.  I need God to reveal what is going on under the surface.

Let me give an example.  Why do you eat wrong foods?  There are probably many reasons.  Some just like food.  Some like the sugar rush.  Some are too lazy to make good food so they grab what is convenient.  Yet, others eat too much and get very fat because they hate themselves and their body?

How do we change?  So much depends on what causes the behavior!  Some of these issues can be cured with will-power and the three day trick.  Others are much deeper and more difficult.  These folks need the gospel to deal with their heart.

I have found that so many folks believe deep down that they deserve to be fat and unattractive.  Such a belief is both untrue and destructive.  In Christ, it needs to be identified, confessed, repented of, and the truth of the gospel needs to be applied.  At this point, you may need help of a trusted friend or counselor to help apply the love of God to your heart.

So how do we change?  Ask the Lord for mercy, grace and a change of heart so we can have the will-power to change some basic habits.  Remember in three days you can change many habits!

Also, ask the Lord for mercy and grace to see that your surface behaviors/sins are caused by a heart that needs grace.  In my walk with God, I use the three day will-power trick to force myself to come before the Lord in repentance and then faith.  By day four, it is much easier to come into His presence in repentance and faith.  My guess is that such behavior also could help you!  Remember, in three weeks you will find changes to your heart.

Remember growth is a process.  Real heart change often takes time and there will be ups and downs.  If you fall off the wagon, repent and begin again.

Every day is a new day of grace!