The Pressure

I saw this on Facebook several months ago and thought it worth re-posting on the blog.

The Pressure

Why is it that water has decided to follow the moon? Maybe it has not overcome the influence of the elements around it. The trees move to the wind, just like water to the moon. Alas, we don't go our own way. We go with the flow of those around us, just like the water.

How do we not conform to those around us? Though we may push hard against the tide of becoming a mirror image of those around us, we always falter, and in time, become that mirror.

There aren't any ways to overcome the tide by yourself, only through one man may you beat it. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is that man. I encourage you to not use him only as a crutch in times of distress, but to thank him for every living moment of your life.

Now, I know that you may think that I’m just saying this, but I don’t only want your friendship at school to be with me, no, it is much larger than that. I want to bring you to church and for you to grow in faith, stature, and most importantly, with God.

This was posted by my son Rocky. It is an original and very much appreciated. His dad was very blessed to read this and know who it came from.

Morning and Evening

Since December of last year, I have been reading Charles Spurgeon's devotional "Morning and Evening." Spurgeon has two readings per day (morning and evening) in which he uses a brief passage of Scripture and provides a brief but very insightful reflection upon the text.

I highly recommend its use. Spurgeon has a way of writing which is very reminiscent of the Puritan's style of colorful and "on-spot" analogies. I can easily imagine him writing this out at his table in his study in Victorian-era London, leaving a great legacy for us today well over a century later. The text is available in print and at several sites on the Internet. One of those is at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Click here:

Reflection for the New Year

The following is a text of a reflection which I gave at the Troy Christian Chapel WatchNight service on December 31, 2008. I hope you find it useful to your walk in Christ.

New Years’s Day Reflection – December 31, 2008
Isaiah 43:1-7 NIV

1 But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. 5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth- 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

The start of a new year is often a time for reflecting on the year which has just gone by and forming some resolutions about things to do (or not do) in the new year. As each of us looks back at 2008, we remember that there are a number of significant things which have happened in each of our lives. The current state of the economy is probably among the biggest things which has influenced our lives as Americans. There have been other events which have influenced our lives as a community, as a church, as families and individuals, too many to mention here in detail.

There were a number of such events in my life during 2008. My mother died in January and it does seem unusual that she is still not here among us. My mother in law was hospitalized twice and required intestinal surgery only a week ago. However, there is one event in particular which I would like to reflect on and hope that the lessons which I learned will be of benefit to you in this New Year, the Year of Our Lord 2009.

Back in October, I was listening to an audio recording of an evangelist named Leonard Ravenhill. Some of you may recognize the name. His ministry of encouraging prayer and revival spanned at least five decades of the 20th century. In the audio, Ravenhill was preaching a sermon called “How Much Can You Lose Without Losing Your Faith?” In the last two minutes of the sermon, Ravenhill asked his audience: “Tell me honestly. Do you believe that you are precious in the sight of the Lord?” I was busy with some task at work while I was listening. I silently answered his question with a quick reply.”No”. I didn’t believe that I am precious in the sight of the Lord.

I knew what the answer was supposed to be. Yet, if I were being honest, I had to say “No”. I asked myself why I had responded like this. First, I needed to make sure that Ravenhill was basing his question upon the Bible and not something that sounds nice but has no basis in the Scriptures. While riding the People Mover in downtown Detroit heading back to my car that evening, I started searching through the Bible to find the verse which I thought Ravenhill might have been using. I found the passage and it is within the text which I read at the start of this reflection, namely Isaiah 43:4. The text was there in the Bible, but did it apply to me personally?

This caused me to do some real soul-searching. Please keep in mind that I am not a novice to the Christian faith. I came to faith in Christ in 1984. Also, I am not untrained in the faith. I do have a Masters Degree in Theology. What I believed about not being precious in the sight of God did not come from a lack of experience or formal training. Over the next few nights, I reflected on this disconnect. I knew what God’s Word says. Yet, I searched for my reason for answering Ravenhill’s question the way I did. To be brutally honest, I know my own sinfulness better than just about anybody. I did not deny that God loves me. Yet, I thought that the love on God’s part was merely one of putting up with me. I know that God loves my wife Julie, and my sons Zack and Rocky. Yet, I believed that God showed me favor merely to be a means of human blessing to my family, and not because I was precious in His sight. The comparison which I recorded in my journal at this time was that of a “weird uncle” or someone similar in most families. The “weird uncle” is often included in family events because of merely being family. Yet, in a one-on-one situation, no one would be friends with him on his own.

I looked for some commentary, book or article which would address my disconnect on this issue. In my searching, I came across the texts of two sermons preached by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the 19th century British minister who is often called “the prince of preachers.” Spurgeon preached on this Isaiah passage in sermons dating to 1870 and 1882. As I read through these sermons, I would have thought that somehow Spurgeon had come into the future and followed me around and interviewed me before preparing his sermons. He perfectly laid out my reasons for not believing that I was not precious in God’s sight. He then dismantled them using God’s Word as his basis. Through these sermons, God was kind enough to show me and have me believe that I personally am precious in His sight. What I thought was too good to be possible turned out to be very good, very possible and very true.

From his 1882 sermon, Spurgeon wrote:

Could it be that Jesus could speak thus in His infinite love to me? I needed to remember the power of the washing in His blood, and the power of His cleansing Spirit, and the power of His justifying righteousness before I could understand how He could say such a word to me? Do you not feel staggered as you hear this word, “You are precious in My sight”? Does not unbelief prompt you to say, “Lord, that love-word is meant for somebody else! It cannot mean me.” And yet, if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you are born of God, and it is to you that this text is spoken, “You are precious in My sight.”

Spurgeon brought the point back to Christ and His work in each of His redeemed. That is what makes us precious in His sight.

Words cannot describe the tremendous and wonderful impact this has had on my life. This has been like an opening of the gates of heaven to me.

What I had believed before stemmed from a false humility. In common usage, when we speak of false humility, we think of someone who seems humble on the outside but is very prideful and egotistical on the inside.

Yet, there is a different kind of false humility. It is a humility, sincerely held, but is a humility based on falsehood. It is founded on a lie. During my first 24 years of life as a Christian, I clung to what I thought was a humble and honest view of myself and how God managed to love me in a way that was just merely putting up with me. I thought that that was blessing enough. Yet, this “humility” was built on a lie which failed to take into account the person and work of Christ on my behalf.

As this new year of 2009 begins, I urge you to reflect on your life and your view of God. Please, for your sake and the sake of those closest to you, put away false humility. It can take several forms. I’ve elaborated about one of those already.

Another type of false humility can be found in the realm of forgiveness. If we are believers in Christ and have confessed our sin, we are told in 1 John 1:9-10 that Christ is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Yet, are there times in which we might think it a holy and humble exercise to remind ourselves so much of our past sin that the one person in this life we fail to forgive is ourselves. Think with me about this. If we fail to forgive ourselves even though God has, are we not holding ourselves to a standard higher even than God’s? We fail to trust the promise of God for forgiveness by not thinking and acting as one who is forgiven. We remain unforgiven, not in God’s sight but in our own. We might think it impossible to let go of the guilt of some sin. We might think that failing to forgive ourselves is really some type of a pious humility. However, such an attitude is not really holy humility at all. Rather, it is idolatry, for we adopt our own standards as a law higher than that of God Himself.

Lastly, as we enter 2009, we will have a number of challenges before us. Life might be getting more difficult. Our culture will mourn that our nation’s material prosperity is diminishing. Don’t mourn as the world mourns. The troubles we face are an opportunity for our faith to grow and to glorify God. Verse 2 of the text brings this out so well. It says:”When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. The text indicates WHEN we face these trials, not IF. God is with us.

Genuine revivals have begun in times like those we are in now. The revival of 1857 which got its’ start in New York City and spread to cities around the English speaking world, including Detroit, started during a financial crisis in America which included a stock market crash. In the light of all the challenges we will face, don’t think that being a dour and sour Christian is somehow being more spiritual and more humble. Scripture tells us that it is the joy of the Lord which is our strength. It is a true joy which those in our culture are starving for. Let’s model it for them.

Our world is being turned upside down. Yet, while the world may be panicky as we enter into 2009, this should be a time of anticipation for us. Please do not get me wrong. I am not naïve. Believers are suffering in our current economic woes as well as unbelievers. Yet, this is a time of unprecedented spiritual opportunity as the myth of the material “good life” is slowly being seen for the fakery that it is. Spiritually, our culture is coming to the end of its’ rope. What better time to introduce them to Jesus Christ.

May the Lord God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, bless your endeavors as you seek Him joyfully in 2009 knowing that you are truly forgiven by Him and that He loves you, and you are personally precious in His sight.

A Treasured Christmas Memory

Christmas is a time which often brings about memories of family, friends, and Christmases past. Last year, one of our pastors asked us during our midweek service what was our favorite memory of Christmas. It was food for thought. Which one do I pick?

I've been blessed with many. When my wife and I first dated, it was during Christmas time. I came to faith in Christ during Christmas time in 1984. There is one memory which became very special to me as the years have gone by. While it is not the most important (I've already covered two of the most important to me), it is a memory that I can share with you via video.

Forty years ago, the very first manned voyage to the Moon was underway at Christmas time. The crew of Apollo 8 were heading for the Moon, doing what no other humans had every done before them in history....travel to the Moon. For a twelve-year old interested in astronomy, I remember feeling lucky to be alive when this historic trip was taking place.

On Christmas Eve, 1968, sitting in my grandfather's living room, surrounded by numerous members of the family, we watched a live telecast from Apollo 8 while it was in orbit around the Moon. The utter profoundness of what was happening was enhanced as the crew of Apollo 8 took turns reading from the first chapter of the book of Genesis. Enjoy this memory with me. Odds are, (statistically), you were not alive in 1968. Yet, you can hear what I heard on that Christmas Eve of 40 years ago.

Second Anniversary

Today is the second anniversary of the School of the Solitary Place blog. By the grace of God, I've been able to post over 70 articles on various topics, usually relating to prayer (there was an exception back in June when I posted about the Detroit Red Wings winning the Stanley Cup earlier that evening).

The picture in the upper left is a personal rendering of an early morning scene, while it is still dark but with the hint of dawn's first light. I can imagine that the Lord Jesus saw something similar when He was praying on that early Sunday morning mentioned in Mark 1:35.

I know that this blog has had a readership throughout 45 states in the United States and hits on servers in over 30 countries. What a privilege. Thanks for reading this blog and for your interest. If you are so inclined, please write and let me know that you've been a reader. The e-mail address is schoolofthesolitaryplace@yahoo.com

The following is from that first blog entry of two years ago:

The School of the Solitary Place is the place where we learn prayer. It is where we learn to commune with God. We learn from our school-master of prayer, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.Early in His ministry after conducting a busy night of healing:

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." (Mark 1:35 NIV)

The Lord Jesus is our teacher in this school. While we as Christians are called to corporate prayer and worship, the practice of individual prayer lays the foundation for a deeper relationship with God and the ability to pray with others in more than a merely formal manner.

The solitary place is a place of solitude to shut out the voices and demands of our everyday world so that we can pray without interruption to the God who made us. It is not necessarily a barren and howling wilderness. The Lord Jesus refers to such a place as a "closet" or an inner room. It might be a nearby park. For the 18th century American theologian Jonathan Edwards, a solitary place was found in walking alone with God in his father's fields, or as young minister in New York City, he later wrote how he very frequently

used to retire into a solitary place, on the banks of Hudson's River, at some distance from the city, for contemplation on divine things and secret converse with God: and had many sweet hours there.

The 20th century minister A.W. Tozer used a corner of the family basement as a place to meet with God in solitude and prayer. A 15th century monastic instructor named Thomas A Kempis wrote how the monk's cell was a wonderful place to meet with God. He said:

"Your cell will become dear to you if you remain in it, but if you do not, it will become wearisome. If in the beginning of your religious life, you live within your cell and keep to it, it will soon become a special friend and a very great comfort. In silence and quiet the devout soul advances in virtue and learns the hidden truths of Scripture. There she finds a flood of tears with which to bathe and cleanse herself nightly, that she may become the more intimate with her Creator the farther she withdraws from all the tumult of the world. For God and His holy angels will draw near to him who withdraws from friends and acquaintances."

(By the way, it should be understood that the meaning of "cell" has changed over the years. That word today carries the meaning of a place of punishment and confinement. However, centuries ago, the word "cell" was derived from the Latin word "Coelum" which means "Heaven") In 1895, Andrew Murray echoed the words of Thomas A Kempis written almost 500 years earlier. In his classic work on prayer entitled With Christ in the School of Prayer, Murray wrote:

"We have learnt to know and accept Jesus as our only teacher in the school of prayer. He has already taught us at Samaria that worship is no longer confined to times and places; that worship, spiritual true worship, is a thing of the spirit and the life; the whole man must in his whole life be worship in spirit and truth. And yet He wants each one to choose for himself the fixed spot where He can daily meet him. That inner chamber, that solitary place, is Jesus's schoolroom. That spot may be anywhere; that spot may change from day to day if we have to change our abode; but that secret place there must be, with the quiet time in which the pupil places himself in the Master's presence, to be by Him prepared to worship the Father. There alone, but there most surely, Jesus comes to us to teach us to pray."

The purpose of this blog is to encourage you in your personal and private times of prayer in Christ. In this School of the Solitary Place, we learn the aspects of personal prayer to enter, by ourselves, into a one-person schoolroom to be tutored by Christ personally in this wonderful privelege.

Common Points of a True Revival

I have had the privilege of studying several distinct historic revivals of the last 150 years. While I cannot state that each and every revival will always have the following traits, they are present more often than not.

1. PRAYER IS A PREDECESSOR TO REVIVAL - It appears that when genuine revival does happen, it is preceded by a time of prayer which can last for months or several years.

2. REVIVAL HAPPENS IN TURBULENT TIMES - Concerning the 1857 Revival which started in New York City, the United States was being torn apart by the issue of slavery. It was also in the midst of a financial crisis which resulted in a stock market crash in October, 1857. The revival which happened in Korea a century ago happened in the midst of an occupying Japanese rule of the country.

3. DENOMINATIONAL GROUPS COOPERATE IN A SPIRIT OF UNITY - In the 1857 revival as well as the Korean Revival of 1907, groups which would typically not interact with each other did for the promotion of Christ, not their own causes.

4. SPIRITUAL "ENVY" OF REVIVAL IN OTHER PLACES - One phenomenal feature of the 1857 Revival was how news about how God poured out the blessing of revival in one nation caused Christians in other places to want revival and pray that God would bless them in the same way in their country.

I pray for revival in my country. Regardless of whoever would have won the U.S. Presidential election yesterday, my nation remains in desperate need of spiritual revival. Politics determines only the outer ordering of things. It does not touch the inner ordering of our hearts and minds. My nation is spiritually sick and desperately needs the hand of God upon it in revival. Otherwise, it will have the hand of God upon it in judgment.

Happy Reformation Day

491 years ago today, Martin Luther took action to begin an in-church debate on 95 points which Luther thought reflected needed areas of reform in the church. Luther nailed a list of these 95 points to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. He did not know at the time that his request to debate points of church reform would lead to the largest reformation movement in church history.

To my Protestant Christian brothers and sisters around the world, I wish you a truly Happy Reformation Day from the School of the Solitary Place.

For a list of the 95 Points (95 Theses), click here

The Courage To Be Protestant

In the summer, I had the chance to read the book The Courage To Be Protestant by Dr. David Wells. It contains a summary of the thought which Dr. Wells first introduced in 1993 with his book No Place For Truth and followed over the next 15 years by God In The Wasteland, Losing Our Virtue and Above All Earthly Pow'rs. David Wells believes that American Evangelicalism is distancing itself from its own theology and now stands ready to move in any direction without the guidance of the Bible and Christian thinkers who have applied the Bible's teachings into theological categories.

In his most current book, Wells sees a separation of current Evangelicalism into three sections. One is Classical Evangelicalism, the second is the Seeker Sensitive/Purpose Driven movement and the last is the Emerging Church. The Perichoresis blog has a great set of summaries of each chapter. See the Link

http://theperichoresis.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/review-wrap-up-the-courage-to-be-protestant/

I highly recommend the book. It has been very instrumental in helping me take stock personally of what it means to defend Classical Protestant Christianity as well as the theology of the church.

Praying With Confidence

If you are a Christian, you may have reflected on the life of Christ AFTER His ascension back to Heaven after His death and resurrection. We know so much of Christ's life from the 1st century due to the Gospel accounts which provide a lot of biographical information about the Lord Jesus.

We also know that Christ will one day return visibly to the Earth:

Acts 1:11 [The angels] also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

What about the "in-between" time (between about 30 AD and now in the year 2008)? What has Christ been doing?

Christ has been interceding for His people before God. Hebrews 7:25 tells us: "Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.as the throne of God."

Jesus has been interceding for His people throughout Church History. Pick a year between 30 AD (possibly as late as 33 AD) and today. You can accurately say: "In the year ______, Christ was interceding for His people." If you chose the year 2008, replace the "was" with "is."

One of the most wonderful elements about this intercession is the invitation we receive concerning it. In human relationships, we tend to think that if someone is upset with us, we need a third party to intercede for us. If a child thinks that his father is angry with him, he may ask his mother to put in a "good word" for him to the father to ease the strained relationship. For Christ's people, this is not the case. We are not instructed to approach Christ through a third party (such as Mary the Mother of Jesus or a saint). We are instructed, and comforted by these

words:

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Christ knows our faults and our sins. When we pray, go in confidence directly to the throne of grace. We have been invited to do so.

The promise is for His people who have come to Him in faith. It does not apply to those who have not put their faith & trust in Christ. Such a person must come in faith to Christ to be saved from their sins and offense against God. That is the heart of the Gospel. Change your mind about your sin ("Repent") and believe (trust) that Christ has paid the debt of your sin before God. A new life in Christ awaits you when you believe (trust) in Him.

Wordle Image

I have found an interesting visual tool called Wordle. It can be accessed through wordle.net. It will take a text and highlight the most frequently used words by making them the largest words of the display. The view you see here is from the text of an article which I wrote for the Evangelical Review of Theology in the January 2007 edition. The article is entitled "Prayer Revivals and the Third Great Awakening."

Clicking on the image below will link you to a high-resolution version of the "word cloud."