A Job Review

Imagine that you work for a large corporation. In the course of the year, you get your annual job review. This time, your review results come to you directly in an envelope marked "from the office of the founder." They are on company letterhead and written personally by the founder John Smith from his offices on 20th floor of headquarters. You begin to read the results written personally to you. It says:

From John Smith, the founder, who sits on the 20th floor,
"The remarkable work you have done for the company has not gone unnoticed. You have worked very hard and put in many long hours. In the course of your duties, you have successfully unmasked outsiders who have disguised themselves as members of our company and exposed them publicly. I know that you have defended my reputation against malicious and false rumors about me. You've shown remarkable stamina in the performance of your duties."

Reading up to this point, you would have no reason to expect something other than a glowing review. But read on. Founder Smith continues:

"However, I know that the affection you had for me and for the company when you first hired in has somehow left you. REVIEW RESULT - Think through how this happened. Remember what it was like when you hired in. Re-think your current attitudes. WARNING - If you don't do this, I will personally remove you from your position." Granted, in early 21st century America, affection for the company you work for is not a pre-requisite. However, using this scenario, we would think that the first part of the review was so genuinely good that the second part really shouldn't matter. If you're being such a great worker, why would having a strong affection for the founder and the company be so important? After all the phenomenal work you've done for the company, why would not having an affectionate/loving attitude toward the founder and the company be so important that without it, you'll be fired?

While not a perfect analogy, I thought this scenario would be a good parallel to a passage of Scripture which has been in my thinking over the last week. My reflection on it was triggered by a great article by Pastor Francis Chan in PUBLIC PASSION VS PRIVATE DEVOTION .

It comes from looking at Christ's letter to the Church of Ephesus as found in Revelation 2:1-7.

The letter reads:
1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:2 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.4 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.5 'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent.6 'Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.7 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'

I realized that I had forgotten just how important love is to our God. It makes up the top two commandments of the Old Testament Law (see Matthew 22:34-40). It is considered the greatest of three great Christian virtues (Faith, Hope, Love; see 1 Corinthians 13:13). The subject is so important that the Apostle Paul wrote a long section of his first letter to the church in Corinth to re-inforce this (see 1 Corinthians chapter 13). In Corinth, the issue was apparent pride in possessing certain spiritual gifts and a looking down on others whose gifts seemed less important. An attitude of love was needed to resolve this mess in Corinth. It was obvious that a problem existed in Corinth. But what about the church of Ephesus at the time Jesus gave them His letter? Look how genuinely hard they worked for Him.

In our very down-to-earth American culture, I think we may have a hard time taking to task someone who genuinely works very hard for God and for the faith yet whose attitude of love is diminished or even missing. We might think that such a person has earned God's favor by their hard work so their lack of a loving attitude should simply be overlooked. Or worse yet, we might rationalize away what we see by thinking that hard work for God MUST be an indicator of true love for God. If that were true, the Lord Jesus would have had no reason to address the Church of Ephesus how He did. But He did. In God's mind, there is a difference.

The problem with cases like that of the church of Ephesus is that people can defend the true things of the Christian faith but do so for very wrong reasons. You might perhaps be in a discussion with an atheist about the simple question as to whether or not God exists. You might be very familiar with arguments for natural theology (i.e. the very universe reflects God's hand of creation), with arguments about biblical sufficiency, history, logic, etc. In terms of WHAT is being said by you, you would be correct. However, if you looked to your motives, you might need to ask WHY you're doing what you're doing. Is it to prove to yourself that you're right? Or, is it being done with a sense of love and concern for the condition of the soul of the person with whom you're debating?

The Pharisees of Jesus' time on Earth provide a good example. We know of the numerous instances that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees. Yet, of the major religious groups in Israel at the time of Jesus, the Pharisees' stated theology was way closer to Jesus' than any other group. Jesus and the Pharisees had a lot in common theologically (i.e. belief in the resurrection of the dead; the longer list of Old Testament Biblical books). The Pharisees seem to have been driven by the desire to be right. What is painful to realize in their case is that they could give the right answers but do so for the wrong reasons.

One last thing. This is something I am trying to reflect on and work through. When the Lord Jesus addressed the church in Ephesus, He doesn't say that their hard word for Him was wrong. It was done with a mindset that forgot the basics of the faith. So, in our time, how to we correctly and strenuously defend the Christian faith, work for the service of Christ AND do so with a proper mindset of love. What I have witnessed of others is an either/or approach, not both/and. How do we do all of these things commanded of us, including love, well? Much prayer is going into the answer which I need to apply to myself.

Audio of New Year's Day Message

The audio of my New Year's Day message at Troy Christian Chapel is now on the church website. You can access the page by clicking on the title of this blog entry or simply go to
http://www.restoringthecore.com/wp-content/restored/TCC_20100101_New_Years_Day_Message.mp3

and download the January 1 2010 sermon.

Happy New Year 2010

Happy New Year 2010!!! The blog took a back seat to some events going on in late 2009. Those are over now so the blog will be getting more attention in 2010.

Over this last New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, our home church of Troy Christian Chapel conducted its' fourth annual 24 Hour New Year's Prayer Time. We had a watchnight service and I had the privilege of being able to deliver the message for the service. I have posted the text here.

Revelation 21:1-8
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

We are about to embark on a new year, the year of Our Lord 2010. It is seems ironic that our culture, which is very oriented to the present-moment and is easily distracted by every shiny object placed in front of it actually takes time for reflection as we move from one year to another. In addition, if you count years the way many do today, we shift from not only one year to another but from the first to the second decade of the 21st century.

It is rather common for the media to look at the year which is ending year in a summary review. We look back at the most newsworthy items and remember those who died during the prior year. Individually, this is a time to “take stock”. It is a time for New Year resolutions.

In looking to the year which has just past, I think we also need to look at and focus on the future. Consider how we are all being drawn into the future with the passage of time. The flow of time can be compared to a quickly moving stream or river. On many of our recent family summer vacations in northern Michigan, Zack, Rocky and I have gone “tubing” on the Indian River in the northern Lower Peninsula. This kind of tubing is not the one where you tie an inner tube to the back of a fast moving boat. Instead, you simply sit down in the tube, wince at how cold the water is, even in August, push off from shore and simply float down the river for a few hours. Sometimes, to have us stay relatively close to each other, one of us might try to grab the branch of a tree from the shore and try to stay in place while the others catch up. Trying to stay in place in that fast moving river is not easy. It is tiring and takes a bit of effort. In the same way, in the flow of the stream of time, trying to hold onto the past is also difficult.

I am not talking about simply remembering the past. That is definitely a good thing to do, especially if you are trying to avoid repeating past mistakes. What I am talking about is how some people, in their hearts and minds, live in the past. I think there are three ways this happens.

1. Failing to recognize the passage of time; We often treat the time given to us by God on this Earth as an infinite resource rather than one which is most definitely fixed by death. It is living opposite of what the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 90:12: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” One who fails to recognize the passage of time does not number his or her days aright. The value of time as a FINITE resource is lost on this person.

2. Obsessing over what is perceived as better times. Such “better times” might be thought of in terms of the economy, relationships in family, dating, marriage, etc. The American Christmas experience can fuel this type of living in the past. Pastor Paul Edwards pointed out on his talk show in November how many of the sappy, sentimental Christmas songs of today can actually bring about a sense of depression as we might do more than just remember Christmases past but perhaps long to somehow re-create or go back to a Christmas in times past. Time’s arrow points only one way and such a re-creation or idealization simply cannot be done.

This mindset is not confined to the Christmas season. In our materialistic, youth-oriented culture, there is a temptation for us as we get older to look back and yearn for days in the past in which we had youth, optimism, strength, good looks, a better-paying job (or even simply a job). Our body might be living in 2010 but our heart and mind is living (and chained to) a bygone time.

3. Obsessing over past faults, failures, regrets, errors and sins. I am not talking about imagined faults or a sense of false guilt. I am speaking about unpleasant things which really happened, some of which were out of our control, in which we were, in a sense, a victim, as well as those instances in which we had full control of a situation and still purposely erred or sinned, perhaps even victimizing someone else.

Keep these three points in mind. I’ll be dealing with them again in a few moments. Remember earlier that I compared the flow of time into the future as a quickly-moving stream. I need to stress that those who are believers in Christ have the Lord Jesus Christ as a traveling companion as we go “tubing” into the future.

To push this analogy just a little harder, it can be said that Christians first encounter Christ at different points in the stream of time. Whenever that encounter happens in our personal history, we find that Scripture shows us that when people first encounter Christ, we encounter Christ in a way which may seem strange to our hearing and jar our thinking. When Christ first becomes manifest to a person or persons, a crisis occurs. In John 3:19, we read:

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

The word that the NIV translates as “verdict” and the NASB translates as “judgment” is the Greek word “CRISIS”. Listen to the passage again in this light of this:

“This is the CRISIS: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

One definition of the word CRISIS is
“A stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, esp. for better or for worse, is determined; turning point.” Doesn’t that describe so well what the presence of Christ does in our lives?

We see this in the parable of the 10 Virgins found in Matthew 25. You might recall the basics of the parable. Five are wise and five are foolish. However, a close reading of the parable will show that if one could be an observer of the events of this parable, no distinction can be made among the virgins until the appearance of the bridegroom, the symbol for Christ. It is only then that a foolish virgin can be distinguished from a wise virgin. The arrival of the bridegroom precipated the crisis of whether provision was made ahead of time or not. Simply put, Christ brings CRISIS. He brings separation and division. When we first met Him, He too brought about a CRISIS for us as well.

To continue the analogy of time as a stream moving toward the future, Christ, the Crisis bringer, can be compared to a channel marker which controls and separates traffic on a river. In the case of Christ, the channel marker indicates a type of “fork in the road”. Just as Christ divides humanity into a type of sheep or goat, (see once again Matthew 25 for this parable of division as well), Christ splits our stream of time into two different directions. We are going to the future. However, the stream is then split into two. One stream of time, the one in which Christ is not a part, empties into a lake. It is not a placid, peaceful lake such as a Houghton or Higgins Lake up north but rather into the Lake of Fire.

The other stream takes us to the new heavens and the new Earth. It is that which is spoken of in the text I read at the beginning. Allow me to re-read a portion of that text:

3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

What wonderful promises await us in that future time and place. Note also that the separation of God’s people from evil is from this point a permanent one. Thus, we are moving not only toward the future, we are moving toward the HOLY FUTURE. Holy in both senses which the Bible applies to the term. Both moral purity as well as separation to God away from evil. We will be living in God’s dwelling because God will be living with us.

With all of this in mind, how should we respond?

1. SEVER THE BONDS IN WHICH YOU CHAIN YOURSELF TO THE PAST
Lay aside guilt over past sins, errors and failures. If you are believer in Christ, remember that Christ died for your sins, ALL OF THEM. Ask God to forgive you. Trust that He has in Christ. If necessary, forgive yourself. Don’t remain chained to the past any longer. Ask forgiveness of God, if needed, for misusing the finite gift of time which He has allotted to you. Lay aside unrealistic expectations from your past. Trust God that though your outward circumstances may have suffered over the years, your best days are not behind you. Nor are you going to be having your best life now. Unfortunately, having your best life now is true only for hellbound unbelievers, not for a Christian. For a believer in Christ, your best life awaits the time of the holy future.

2. ABIDE IN CHRIST – Please be more concerned about abiding with Christ than with living the Christian life. Hopefully, that got your attention. Should we be living the Christian life as Christians? Absolutely. Yet, in the attitudes of our hearts and minds, we may find it more comfortable to do Christian things rather than spend time and our lives in the presence of our companion who travels with us into the holy future. If you abide in Christ, simply staying with Him, living a genuine Christian life will flow naturally. Will it take effort? Yes. However, that effort will not seem incredibly burdensome to you. Rather, it will flow from the joy of being in the abiding presence of the Lord in your life. As Psalm 16:11 says: “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy;” and Nehemiah 8:10 concludes the thought: “The joy of the LORD is your strength.”

3. BE A MIGRANT TO THE FUTURE – In the Detroit area, it is not uncommon to see or know individuals who have migrated from a foreign culture to American culture. Sometimes, these migrants will reflect the cultures from which they came. This can happen by way of such things as language, food or clothing. In these cases, the place from which they came has a strong influence on their present moment.

In what way should Christians be migrants? We know we are pilgrims in an alien word. We get a further hint from Saint Paul. In Romans 6.11, Paul tells us that we need to “consider ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Being actually dead to sin and outside its reach is a mark of the life we will have in the new heavens and the new Earth, in the holy future. So, for a Christian, the way in which we conduct ourselves is not the past influencing the present, but rather the future influencing the present. Our migrant culture, as foreigners in this world, is based on future experience, not the past experience. We can live the life of the land to which we are going and do so now. Live as one who knows the time and place to which you are migrating and where you will eventually spend eternity.

4. DON’T PUT OFF THE THINGS YOU ARE CALLED TO DO & WISH TO DO- If we are not chained to the past but know we are being called into the future, we can live life in the present moment with a confidence that God is with us. Ask God to give you the wisdom to know what He is asking of you. Keep in mind that Scripture tells us that God gives us the desires of our heart. I understand this not as God fulfilling our personal whims but actually supplying to us the desires for the things He wants us to want. My counsel is that unless you are stopped by circumstances outside your control, follow through on what God has put on your heart. It might be something such as going to seminary or taking a missions trip. Perhaps it is something which may not seem as outwardly noble as what I just mentioned but are still important things nonetheless. Such things as taking that once-in-a-lifetime cruise with your family, telling someone close to you that they are loved and so important in your life. Perhaps, it is even something as simple as the joy of learning to play a musical instrument like an Irish Tin Whistle. It could be any number of seeming small things. Use these opportunities wisely and well.

I need to conclude. In October of 1964, Ronald Reagan, 16 years away from being elected President of the United States, gave a speech called “A Time for Choosing”. In that speech, Reagan stated he believed that the American people had a rendezvous with destiny. While that may very well be true, I know that the Bible indicates we have a rendezvous with the future.

[AT THIS POINT IN THE SERVICE, WE PUT UP THE IMAGE YOU SEE AT THE TOP OF THIS BLOG ENTRY}REQUEST POWERPOINT TO BE USED]
This rendezvous with the future was portrayed graphically in a set of paintings which make up the altar piece of a cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. In this painting done by the Van Eyck brothers in the 1420s, we see in symbol the gathering of God’s faithful from all of history. These people from every language, tribe and nation gather around the throne of God and of the Lamb, Christ Jesus. This is where we are being drawn. This is where we belong, with all of the saints of all history who also met Christ the Crisis Bringer in their voyage down the stream of time. Standing shoulder to shoulder with them, we will rightfully be worshipping God forever. As believers in Christ, that is our destiny.

With God’s help, will you choose to sever the chains holding you to the past so that you can live that life of the holy future, both then and now?

MP3s and Podcast Resources

As you may have guessed, the Internet has mp3 and podcast and audio resources too many to list here. Let me provide a few which I think may be very helpful to you.

One Place

There is a site which contains links to (seemingly) every well known Christian broadcast that exists. You can find it here . If you want to find programs such as John MacArthur's "Grace To You", R.C. Sproul's "Renewing Your Mind" or a classic such as J. Vernon McGee's "Thru the Bible", you can find them here. They are downloadable as mp3s and are typically free. Many of the ministry sites found at One Place offer an RSS feed by which you can automatically download their program.

White Horse Inn

While it can be found on One Place, this ministry deserves special mention. It is a weekly podcast in which ministers from four different Protestant backgrounds will discuss a theological topic on a level which everyone can understand. The link to the White Horse Inn podcasts can be found here.

Issues, Etc.

This is a daily radio program which archives its programs online. They can be downloaded as mp3s. The host, Todd Wilken, is a minister in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The programs cover a tremendous amount of topics. Sometimes, it is a Christian perspective on some recent world or national event. At other times, the topics will cover church history or theology. Like the White Horse Inn, the discussion is intelligent, insightful and geared for a popular audience. The link to Issues, Etc. on-demand mp3s can be found here.

Sermon Audio

This site probably contains more mp3 sermons than any other on Earth. As of this posting, there were over 267,000 audio sermons available. There are a number of current preachers whose sermons are on this site. There are also a number of sermons from pastors who have since died and whose sermons mean just as much today as when they preached them years ago (A. W. Tozer and Leonard Ravenhill are good examples). The link to Sermon Audio can be found here.

Troy Christian Chapel Sermons

Don't forget that TCC has a webpage with mp3s of sermons which have been preached at church. The sermons of Dan Lewis, Jon Enright, Jake Stirnemann, Chad Lewis and Brian Torres can be found here. There is also the option to download the sermon through a RSS feed. This is a great way to catch up on a sermon you may have missed while being out of town on vacation or a camping trip.

Theology Network

Theology Network is based in the United Kingdom and has a tremendous number of resources to grow in the faith. Their site contains numerous articles, electronic copies of entire books (such as "The Bruised Reed" by Richard Sibbes) as well as an abundance of teaching mp3 on a variety of topics. I've listened to tens of hours of the teaching mp3s from Theology Network and they cover a variety of subjects quite well and in a very easy to listen to style of presentation. Their link can be found here.

Index to Resources

This is the master index of links to find Christian resources from a variety of online resources. This index links up to websites which are being used by the youth of Troy Christian Chapel to deepen their individual walks in Christ. It is our belief that many of today's Christian youth strongly desire to deepen their lives in Christ but are not aware of where to find online resources to help them. Hopefully, this site can help.

It is our hope that these links will be of benefit to the youth of our congregation as well as any other readers of this blog who may be searching for the same type of resources.

Click on the Links:

Bible Resources - Resources for Bible reading, study; Links to Bibles readable online as well as Bibles for mobile devices; Includes links for downloads of mp3 files.

Book Resources - Resources for Christian reading other than the Bible; Links to Christian Classics Ethereal Library, the largest collection of Christian e-texts in one place on the Internet.

Devotional Resources -Resources for prayer and daily devotions. They include links to Our Daily Bread from Radio Bible Class, the reading from Encounter With God from Scripture Union, as well as links to news websites which may act as a way of informing and focusing our prayers.

MP3 and Podcast Resources - Resources for Christian programming found on the Internet. This includes links to One Place, as well as several excellent discussion programs and also the sermon page of Troy Christian Chapel.

Devotional Resources

There are a number of great resources for devotionals which can be found on Internet

OUR DAILY BREAD - This is the online version of the printed devotional that we keep at the Information Center at Troy Christian Chapel. It follows a simple format of the reading a small Bible passage and a reflection on that passage.

Link: http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml There is also an option for a feed to your mobile device: http://www.rbc.org/info/rbcmobile.aspx

ENCOUNTER WITH GOD - This is just one devotional from Scripture Union. It too has a brief reading of Scripture and then a reflection. Unlike "Our Daily Bread", the readings will go through a book of the Bible over a several day or several week period. Highly recommended as a supplemental to your daily Bible reading.

LINK to the Daily Reading: https://www.scriptureunion.org/devotional.php?devotional=encounter

There is also the option of getting the readings for the day sent to you by e-mail. You can even choose the version of the Bible you want the reading to come in:

LINK: http://www.scriptureunion.org/subscribe.php?devotional=encounter

MORNING & EVENING
This devotional was composed by Charles Haddon Spurgeon back in late 19th century England. Each day has a morning reading from Scripture (with a reflection) as well as an evening reading from Scripture (along with a reflection on the text). Spurgeon is very insightful into His reflection on short snippets of Scripture which, when thought about, carry remarkable weight.

LINK: http://www.heartlight.org/spurgeon/

There are also options for getting each day's readings sent to your e-mail or picked up as a RSS feed. The links are found within Heartlight's Spurgeon web -page.

NEWS SOURCES
In a sermon preached in March, 1998, Pastor Dan Lewis challenged us to use the newspaper as a devotional guide to pray for the world around us. While print newspapers are becoming scarcer, there are a number of news websites which can help us to expand our vision for prayer and have us to pray beyond only our own families and our own neighborhoods.

BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION (BBC) - Centered in England, the BBC does a great job in presenting international news LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (CBC) - Centered in Canada, the CBC presents news, much of which is familiar to an American audience, with a bit of a different perspective
LINK: http://www.cbc.ca/news/

CABLE NEWS NETWORK (CNN) - Centered in the United States, CNN covers a number of national and international stories. LINK: http://www.cnn.com/

DETROIT NEWS - Centered in Detroit, the Detroit News covers stories which pertain to the Metropolitan Detroit area. LINK: http://www.detnews.com/

Book Resources

Christianity has a rich collection of literature written over a span of 2000 years. One site which probably contains more digitized Christian books than any other is the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (Link at http://www.ccel.org/) Their recommended "short list" of classic Christian books includes the following:

St. Augustine
The Confessions of St. Augustine -- The most popular work of the man who more than any other shaped western civilization. The first 10 chapters constitute a spiritual autobiography and some spiritual and philosophical reflections; the last three chapters are a reflection on the creation story of Genesis 1.

John Bunyan
Pilgrim's Progress -- A spiritual allegory. Of books written in English, one of the all-time most popular. Audio available

G. K. Chesterton
Orthodoxy -- Chesterton's writing reminds me of C.S. Lewis, but a little more colorful, a little more quirky. This book is an apology for the Christian world-view.

Jonathan Edwards
Religious Affections -- "What is the nature of true religion? . . . [What are] the distinguishing notes of that virtue and holiness that is acceptable in the sight of God?" In this classic work by America's greatest theologian and philosopher, Edwards considers the nature of revival and the genuine work of the Holy Spirit. Don't read this book if you want to keep worshipping your idols.

George Fox

Autobiography of George Fox -- This is a fascinating journal of the exploits of the founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers). It is also very illuminating about the political and religious state of seventeenth century England -- for example, Fox lives through the commonwealth period, meets Cromwell, and prophesies his downfall after he treats Quakers badly. Audio available

Ignatius of Loyola
The Spiritual Exercises Spiritual exercises arranged into 4 weeks, by the founder of the Jesuits.

John of the Cross
Ascent of Mount Carmel
Dark Night of the Soul -- The writings of St. John of the Cross are unsurpassed for mystical theology. The "dark night" is a must-read for anyone seriously concerned about growing spiritually.

Thomas à Kempis
The Imitation of Christ -- This book is said to have been published in more editions than any other, apart from the Bible, with 6000 appearing by the turn of this century. This little devotional book is simply written but immensely moving. Highly recommended. Audio available

William Law
A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life -- This is one of two or three books that greatly influenced the young J. Wesley. Audio available

Brother Lawrence
The Practice of the Presence of God -- In this little collection of letters and reflections, Brother Lawrence encourages us to be continually in God's presence. Audio available

Keep in mind that these books span a large timeframe (Augustine wrote in the 5th century; Chesterton wrote in the late 19th century). Their authors span a wide range of Christian beliefs. You might find that you don't agree with every single author on every last detail. Yet, as a part of the body of Christ, they still have much to teach us.

Bible Resources

We are blessed to live in a time in which so many resources which allow us to read, study, search and reflect on the Bible. Here are just a few links to finding a way to read or listen to God's Holy Word.

THE BIBLE ON THE INTERNET

BIBLE GATEWAY

Bible Gateway biblegateway.com is a great way to look for a text of the Bible. It can be read in a large number of translations such as the New International Version, New American Standard, English Standard Version or even the King James Version. You can look up passages by book, chapter and verse. You can search it by keyword. It also contains a number of links to non-English translations. If you're on your computer, IPod or some other mobile, wireless device, this is a great way to get a hold of the text you're looking for.

DOWNLOADABLE BIBLE AUDIO

Perhaps you want to download a portion of the Bible for use on your IPod, mp3 or some other audio device. One site which offers free downloads of each chapter of the Bible. They are in the public domain. In otherwords, there is no copyright restriction. The site is for the World English Bible audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm

BIBLE FOR YOUR MOBILE DEVICE
There are a number of companies which produce Bible software for mobile devices. I have used Olive Tree software for my Palm Tungsten "E". A link to them here www.olivetree.com/ provides you the opportunity to download a number of currently used Bible translations for a minimal price. Olive Tree also offers a number of free resources, (found here at olivetree.com/resources/free/), some of which are older translations of the Bible, but some are other types of books, such as those of Christian biography, theology and prayer.

ONE YEAR BIBLE

There are a number of plans for reading the Bible through completely. One plan which I have used multiple times is that of the One Year Bible. Link at oneyearbibleonline.com . There is a page for specific use of mobile devices which allow you to access these readings from your Blackberry, IPod, etc. Link at www.oneyearbibleonline.com/oybomobile.asp?version=51&startmmdd=0101

SCRIPTURE MEMORY

Memorizing portions of the Bible is a great way to keep God's Word in your heart and mind. One site which can help is memoryverses.org/. Another is creativebiblestudy.com/Biblememorization.html which employs a number of techniques and even gives links to print off sheets which can be stored as small cards which can easily be carried and used where the opportunity allows.

BIBLE STUDY TOOLS

There are two downloadable pieces of Bible software which I highly recommend. The first is E-Sword. E-Sword is software which enables in-depth study of the Bible. Once it is downloaded, it remains on your computer (thus it is not an internet link such as Bible Gateway). Some of the Bible downloads have a small cost. However, a version as recent as the English Standard Version (put out in 2002) is a free download. The link for E-Sword is here.

One other free Bible Study resource I would like to recommend is Quick Bible. It does not have all of the features of E-Sword. However, if you are looking for a free, searchable Bible in a modern translation, Quick Bible may be what you are looking for. It is produced by the Lockman Foundation, the translators of the New American Standard Bible (probably the most literal translation of the Bible into English). The link for the download can be found here.

Wheat and Tares

Recently, I happened to see a video of the contemporary hymn "In Christ Alone". It was sung by an Irish vocalist named Kristyn Getty. She read a passage from the first chapter of the Gospel of John and then sang the hymn, with a rather large choir behind her. As I researched this hymn further, I found that Kristyn's husband Keith, and another individual, Stuart Towend, wrote the hymn.

I've been rather taken with this hymn. It sounds like a creed put to music. Unfortunately, much of what passes today as Christian music, would, in my opinion, would have been better left uncomposed. This song is radically different.

I discovered that Keith and Kristyn Getty have made it their goal to write new hymns which are not tied into the musical tastes of one particular generation (i.e. market share to many others). They want to write hymns of "singable doctrine". As a Sunday School teacher, I could not be more pleased. I was very encouraged to hear their work and to know why they are doing what they are doing. What a wonderful thing!

Having read this, you might be wondering what the topic "Wheat and Tares" has to do with what I just wrote. Let me try to take you down the path of reflection which I took to get here. Like many others at this time, I do believe that much of what passes for Evangelical Christianity today is simply a consumer-driven effort to get people into a church. It's a game of numbers which waters down the Gospel to a product to be desired rather for its worldly benefits rather than glorifying God. That is why so many alleged churches today could accurately be described as a "circus church." From "7 day Sex Challenges" to "What James Bond can teach me about being a Christian" to an Easter sermon advertised in its community on the topic of "Beer, Babes and Baseball", much of the Evangelical church seems to be purposely weakening itself in the midst of a culture which seems more ignorant and more hostile to Biblical Christianity than ever before. (Oh, by the way, the three sermons I told you about just now weren't made up by me. They really happened over the last year).

In tracking things such as this, I am indebted to those such as Chris Rosebrough and his "Fighting for the Faith" podcast (which I highly recommend). Unfortunately, I found myself being in the position of feeding myself a lopsided view of God's church. All the things which I have mentioned are, unfortunately, true. However, I had spent a lot of time looking only at one side. When I came across the hymns of Keith and Kristyn Getty, I knew that I had missed something.

Those bad things happening in evangelical churches are very much like the tares (weeds), which the Lord Jesus spoke of in His parable on the "Tares and the Wheat" (Matthew 13:24-30). The summary of this is that the tares (technically known as darnels) and the wheat look so much alike as they are developing, you cannot easily tell them apart. However, once the harvest time comes, differences are obvious. One lesson which I drew from this is while the tares are growing to full maturity in this world, so is the wheat. If all we do is focus on the negative aspects in the church, we, unfortunately will have many things happen to support that view. But that will rob us of knowing that God's good work in His Son's church is also growing to full maturity as well. While there are "God is my girl-friend" songs being used in churches, there are people like Keith and Kristyn Getty, whose hymns are a wonderful reminder that God's good work continues and matures in His people. God be praised!

If you're interested in the great work which the Getty's are doing, please go to their website:
http://gettymusic.com/

I particularly recommend their hymn "O Church, Arise". The biblical insights in the lyrics are remarkably profound.

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.