the blog of Jerry Bolton
Archive for October, 2009
Can we call it “Body-planting”?
0Currently listening to: “Freedom is Here” by Hillsong United
I’m a very, very late comer to the worship music scene. I find that as I draw nearer to God, I can’t help but revel in worship. That, and there’s something inherently intriguing to me about songs written for the express purpose of being sung in a large-group setting. If you judge worship music purely on musical merit alone, you’re missing the point – it’s really, REALLY hard to write songs so personal (yet generally connectable) that they lend themselves to such a context. Having said all that, there’s still a lot of garbage worship records out there (and songs)… and Hillsong, as usual, evades such derision. They write good worship songs.
I’ve been working on two posts, neither of which is ready. One containing continuing thoughts on God’s will, one being the next about finances and stewardship – another of Jesus’ parables.
In the meantime, I wanted to share this post on CJ Mahaney’s blog by his friend Dave Harvey. It’s about church planting. More than that, it’s about how the church is God’s intended mission to the world. It’s about the church doing the things often left to parachurch ministries. It’s about how much can be lacking when the context of ministry is squarely outside (or alongside) the church rather than within the context of a local body of believers.
Being familiar with a great example of a church that has recently planted INTO a University campus (pray for them!), such things excite me greatly.
Check out Dave’s post here.
Concerning the Will of God: Simple Moves (Pt. 2)
12 years ago
by Jerry
in Bible Study
Currently listening to: “The Fisherman Song (We All Need Love)” by Mae
I really think that Mae has finally outdone their sophomore record ‘The Everglow’. No small feat. The recent EP’s entitled ‘(m)orning’ and ‘(a)fternoon’ are excellent examples of sprawling pop rock infused with all manner of savvy and sensibility. I can only assume the forthcoming ‘(e)vening’ EP will follow the same pattern.
God’s will for us – what an utterly important thing to grasp! Yesterday, I introduced the topic here. Be sure to check that out if you haven’t already.
Here’s where we left off – thinking about God’s will in practical terms:
1 Thesselonians 4:3a ESV
For this is the will of God, your sanctification.
Seriously though, when I said we often over-complicate it, I wasn’t kidding. Although there are other places where the methodology for ascertaining God’s will (contexually) is shared – such as Romans 12 – there’s nowhere else in Scripture where “God’s will” for Christians is stated more explicitly. I’m guilty of missing this, and you probably are also.
So what does this mean, that God’s will is my sanctification? What are the implications?
Well, for starters, this makes figuring out the “why” of things-over-which-I-have-no-control much easier. Whatever happens to me, I can trust that it’s been caused or allowed by God for the purpose of my sanctification. That goes for the things-over-which-I-appear-to-have-control, too. From the ‘out of my hands’ to the ‘I totally blew it’, God allows and orchestrates our lives in such a way that we who belong to him, who are called by his name, to progressively and consistently over the course of our lives becomes more and more like Jesus.
So, how does this practically affect when I need to make decisions? This is where it splits two vital ways.
First, it means that prior to deliberating about the many decisions of life, I need to make the primary decision; the decision to live life FOR my own sanctification. Indeed, continually making decisions that PURSUE it. This means that, far above and beyond the importance of any other decision I might make, I must ultimately and continually choose to be obedient to this high calling:
Philippians 2:12-13 ESV (emphasis mine)
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Wow. Ok. Let’s break this down. As believers, we are explicitly called to be obedient to a number of explicit, solid, generally unchallenged callings – things like the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. All of these callings, however, center around bringing God glory. Whether it is the glory for lives transformed by the Gospel we take to all nations, or the glory for the supernatural altruistic love we cultivate for neighbors, enemies, and most of all for God himself. This explicit command from Paul in Philippians (echoed elsewhere) is no different. God sanctifies us for His own glory – he “works in us”, enabling both our will and our work – granting us grace for daily, obedient actions and decisions.
Yet, we’re called to “work out” our salvation. We’re given a clear calling to sanctification. So very clear. Although God enables our rebellious hearts and minds, experientially we work, we strive, we struggle, we battle, we war, we “fight the good fight”.
Paul worded it like this:
Romans 6:19b ESV
For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
What does this work look like? What does obedience to this calling look like? God’s will is my sanctification – how do I obediently work that out? How do I “enslave” my cognitive faculties and my utterly mutinous body to righteousness? What choices are ultimate in my life before I even think about the daily grind decisions?
Here’s some ideas of the kinds of choices the call to sanctification necessitates:
1. Sanctification and Scripture are intricately tied into each other.
Nothing could be more explicit (there it is again – explicit!) than when Jesus prayed:
John 17:17 ESV
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
If that’s not a strong enough argument, I don’t know what will be. Jesus prayed that we would be sanctified by God’s word – namely, the Bible. Scripture. Genesis to Revelation – everything contained therein.
So, Choice #1 is this:
I choose to spend time in the Scriptures every day. God’s will is that I be sanctified, and he himself said that I would be sanctified by the truth – his word. I will be in it every day without fail – searching out all of the truth it contains. Studying it, applying it, wrestling with it, and being obedient to what it says. It’s God’s will for me.
2. Sanctification is rooted in knowing and trusting God – which is expressed in prayer.
As we just saw, the truth of what God has said in the Bible drives our sanctification. So, what has God said to us in it? Among its whole canon, one constant refrain is that we who believe are called to know God, and in knowing him, we are to entrust everything to him.
Here’s a good, simple example:
Psalm 4:5-8 ESV
Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.
There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
The Psalmist – David, in this case – contrasts those who don’t know God with those who do (namely, himself!). In this contrast, he compares his joy with theirs and concludes that his joy is far greater. He delights in the peace and the safety of trusting the LORD, and charges us to trust God also.
So, how does trusting God manifest itself in our lives? We pray:
2 Chronicles 7:13-14 ESV (emphasis mine)
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
When we have need, when we are oppressed, when circumstances surround us and are so far beyond our control, or when decisions to be made bear down on us and we have no clarity – God asks us to humble ourselves, seek his face, and repent. All of these things are propelled by trusting God, and amidst them, he bids us to pray. When we pray in this way – humbly seeking him with a repentant heart – we are acting out our trust in Jesus to be the one who meets our needs, delivers us from oppression, steers our circumstances, and clarifies our decision making. When we come before God with our petitions, we come to a living, active, powerful Saviour who is more than able to see us through whatever difficulties may face us.
It’s for this reason that the Apostle says:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Wow… again with “the will of God” being explicitly and clearly stated. God’s will is that I be sanctified, and that I never cease to pray, to rejoice, to give thanks. The more I know him, the more I trust him, the more I bring everything to him in prayer. He’s worthy!
So, Choice #2 is this:
I choose to spend time in prayer every day. God’s will is that I rejoice in who he is, trust him with thanksgiving, and pray without letting up. I will come to him with all my praise, all my needs, all my requests, and all my confessions as he sanctifies me. It’s God’s will for me.
Some of you might chuckle here – after all, I’ve just described two of the key spiritual disciplines! Let’s recap. First, God’s will is that we be sanctified by spending time diligently studying and applying the scriptures to our lives – depending on him to give us clarity and understanding as we strive to grasp his truth. Second, God’s will is that we be sanctified by spending time trusting him in prayer. Let’s commit ourselves afresh to these disciplines. They’re two of our primary callings in life as believers – two explicit manifestations of our being sanctified, and thus following God’s will for us.
God’s will is our sanctification, let’s align our wills with his on this.
Concerning the Will of God: Simple Moves
02 years ago
by Jerry
in Bible Study
Currently listening to: “Hall of Justice” by Deepspace5
A fun rap romp through classic comic-book superheroes, this track graces the very old-school DS5 EP – which is probably impossible to find an original print of, but can be listened to here: The Beginning, Is The Start Of Everything. “Who you think is the guy writin’ with the fat marker / Spreadin’ rhyme webs on walls, it’s no-one else but Peter Parker” It’s great to hear DS5 circa 1997 – they all sound so much younger… but man, did they ever bring the fire.
As I mentioned a couple days ago, I’m in a phase of life (called “job hunting”) where finances and economics are on my mind a lot. Money stuff. With that in mind, I’ve been doing a survey of what the Bible says about money… and it’s many synonyms – wealth, riches, resources, etc. I like to call it “THE MONEYS”.
That being said, I’m sitting on a mostly-finished “part 2″ to this series. Before I drop that – in a couple days, Lord willing – I felt inspiration hit tonight and so I decided I’d hit inspiration back with a brief tangent. Consider this post #0 if you like. See, when I started this series I neglected to preface it. I’ve realized lately that it’s often prudent to preface any serious study – particularly if it’s topical – with some of the roots beneath the topic. In the case of this study of finances and fiscal responsibility and “THE MONEYS”, a closely-related and very root-ish issue that I believe needs to be addressed in tandem is something we usually refer to as “the will of God”.
Why the will of God? The easiest explanation is actually my own circumstances. My reason for studying the scriptures concerning “THE MONEYS” is that I’m at a point in my life-journey where there’s a lot up in the air, particularly in the area of work and providing for my family. Of course, this means that studying the principles laid out by Scripture concerning such providence and work and, well, economics… is paramount. With that in my mind, while I was at a meeting tonight someone shared briefly some scripture from 1 Thesselonians which served as a reminder to me that even more deep and vital for me to understand right now (amidst all my many concerns about finding a job and being a responsible post-grad employable individual) is what God’s will for me is. If I have a solid grasp on God’s will, that will both inform and reform my understanding of finances. Thus, we’re going to consider God’s will tonight.
Christians are much in the habit of making “The Will of God” something mysterious and unknowable and far-off and complex and convoluted and so on, ad nauseum. Sure, when we study it theologically in its fullness, there are many facets and components we must necessarily take into account – such as the idea that God has two wills (one revealed, one hidden/secret – etc) and so on.
For the purposes of what I’d like to address tonight – in terms of what I hope both challenges and encourages you – we’re going to be talking about God’s practical will. That is, we’re talking about “God’s will” as it relates to the everyday, mundane decisions and the overarching, significant decisions we make as we journey through life. In my case, right now, that involves things such as “How can I spend today fruitfully and productively?” and “Do I take this job or not?”. Further, we’re talking about “God’s will” as it relates to the many forces that exert themselves upon us throughout life… upon which we have no control or recourse. In my case, right now, that involves things such as… well… some random company offering me a job, or the unlikely event of severe sickness coming upon me. Does that make sense? We’re talking about “God’s will” in the sense that people often say “I’m just trying to figure out what God’s will is for me right now”.
1 Thesselonians 4:3a ESV
For this is the will of God, your sanctification.
Well hey, that was easy!
Come back tomorrow when we’ll start to explore the implications of this profound, explicit truth. All I ask is that you ruminate on this a bit. What does it mean practically to know that God’s will for me is that I be sanctified – that I become more like Jesus every day, in each decision, and in all my faculties? Ponder and consider, friends.
(If you’re skeptical, I already have the next post written – no jokes!)
…a new place to breathe
5
I’ve been wanting to do this for years.
Welcome to a new look, a new name, a new location, and a reinvigorated sense of purpose.
There’s a lot of work left for me to do, but I trust this early iteration will be both helpful and appealing. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know. At present, I’m hurriedly categorizing, editing, and tagging my archive of 800+ posts.
It is my prayer that this place will be home to many years of quality writing. Writing that provides insight into the many facets of music and literary criticism – not to mention turning you on to some great tunes and reads in the process. Writing that gives insight into the inner workings of one unfinished person being sanctified and reformed. Writing that challenges readers with careful exposition of Scripture – God’s divine revelation to mankind.
Most of all, my desire is that this be a place where Jesus Christ is glorified and honoured as Saviour, Lord, and God.
My name is Jerry Bolton, and you’re reading the resonance of my reformation.
Thanks for stopping by.
…concerning riches
02 years ago
by Jerry
in Bible Study
Current Tunage: Fee – Rise and Sing
Blew my mind.
Along with my friend Noah, I’ve been intentionally studying Scripture lately with the purpose of applying its truth to my life. For me, that means that I’ve been studying finances and economics. For some, this might seem strange – what on earth could the Bible have to say about my money? If you’re asking such a question, the answer might surprise you: quite a lot. Everything, even.
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve found myself at one of life’s crossroads. Namely, I’m a recent grad on the hunt for meaningful, full-time employ. As is the case with any life-phase, I thought I knew what to expect heading into it, and I’ve discovered otherwise. Just like I thought I knew all about marriage before getting married only to find I had barely scraped the surface and that much of what’s to be learned can only be learned through practice and, well, living it. So, these past few months I’ve been overwhelmed by the grace of God as he has provided far beyond all I could have asked or imagined. Besides continuing the on-call position I’ve held for 7 years supporting people with developmental disabilities, I’ve also had the opportunity to work with two businesses doing freelance writing work throughout the summer and into the fall. This has provided many interesting opportunities to accumulate experience and “resume revenue”, and I’m very thankful.
With that in mind, though, I’ve realized that although I know a lot of the basics about finances (debt is bad, savings are good, assets vs liabilities, etc), I can’t think of a time that I’ve seriously studied Scripture to see what God has to say about wealth and riches. So, while my dear friend Noah is working his way through another topic, I’m working my way through finances.
This all started with what is best described as a word study. Being able to search-engine the Bible (thanks to e-Sword and various web-based tools) is a blessing and a curse. It allows us to quickly find that verse in our head (or find related verses easily) but takes away a lot of the impetus to memorize not just words but locations – which are still very important. In any case, my word study turned up a lot of hits on words like “money” and “wealth” and “riches” and “rich” and so on. I felt it most prudent to check all the significant synonyms.
The purpose of this word study was to isolate the most useful and applicable passages (while understanding that all the passages are useful and applicable). As a result, I ended up with a small handful of passages that I will be working my way through over the course of the next few days. Each one bears a significant set of implications on how we view money, finances, economics… and hammers on important characteristics that we as believers are to strive toward. Things like generosity, stewardship, wisdom, sacrificial love, and trusting God.
So, won’t you join me as I work my way through one of Jesus’ parables:
Luke 16:1-8 ESV
He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
Ok, so – first things first, Jesus is hanging out with his disciples and the Pharisees. He decides to bust a parable on them. Parables usually have one “main point”, and we’ll get to that a bit later. First, let’s check out the story itself. There’s a manager and his boss – the rich man. The manager is kind of like a CEO is to a Board of Directors – he’s the one who does the daily ins-and-outs of the business; the one who’s actually got his hands in stuff. He makes the decisions on the rich man’s behalf, for the sake of his estate. He’s the guy the rich man has to take care of collecting from those who owe him stuff – he’s the guy who “takes care of business”. Basically, he’s been blowing his boss’ cash like no tomorrow, he realizes his boss has found him out, and forgives some of his boss’ debtors before he gets fired so he’ll be on their good side.
Luke 16:8-9 ESV
The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
The boss congratulates him for being such a sly, clever larcenist. Of course, it goes without saying he wasn’t happy with the guy, and it’s probably safe to say the ‘commendation’ was sarcasm at it’s finest. I’m envisioning it coming across like this: “I commend you for your shrewdness… and I hope you enjoy how shrewdly I drop your shrewd posterior into Hebrew Penitentiary”.
Which brings us to the highly applicable “parablic commentary” (as I’m fond of calling it). First, Jesus says that ‘sons of the world’ are more shrewd than ‘sons of light’ in ‘dealing with their own generation’. Then, Jesus says that it’s good to make friends with ‘unrighteous wealth’. So what does that mean? Well, I’m inclined to agree with the ESVSB‘s observations:
Jesus applies the parable both as a comparison and as a contrast. In contrast to the manager, Jesus’ disciples must not use their money unrighteously, but like the manager they must use their money in such a way that they prepare for their future life. The “sons of this world” often show more concern and skill in taking care of their earthly well-being than do the “sons of light” in taking care of eternal matters.
This brings up a couple important principles for those of us who belong to Christ – we who are “called by his name”, who are ‘sons of light’:
1. We are to strive to show far greater care, concern, and stewardship of our resources (financial or otherwise) than unbelievers.
2. We are to strive in this way not for our earthly well-being, but for eternal matters; primarily for the building of God’s kingdom and not our own.
Luke 16:10-13 ESV
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
At this point, Christ begins to speak of faithfulness. Isn’t it remarkable that in the midst of a parable about finances and wealth, Jesus talks about fidelity? I think so.
I think it’s amazing that the measure of our economics and our financial dealings isn’t numbers, but faithfulness. If it were purely numeric, we’d all be toast; our ‘unrighteous wealth’ (that is – money that is so easily and quickly either unrighteously acquired or used or made an idol of) would forever be ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’. If poverty were the measure of our righteousness in wealth, all us rich folks in the West (and that’s all of us, arguably) would be condemned. Likewise if luxury were the measure of righteousness in wealth, all the poor people in third world countries would be condemned. Praise God! His standard is not one of “you must make this much to pass!” or “you must not make more than this much to pass!”, but “you must be faithful with what you have!”.
The measure of our financial dealings (and all the numbers that represent it) is not how much or how little we have, but our faithfulness with what we do have. Think about the parable of the widow at the temple. Some rich dude drops in a couple big moneybags for show, then she waddles up and drops in two coins:
Mark 12:42-44 ESV
And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Jesus praises her for what she gave. Why? Because generosity toward God looks very different when you’re rich compared to when you’re poor. It’s percentage-oriented, not numeric-value-oriented. “Aha!”, you might say, “percentages can be turned into numbers!”. You’re right, but you’re missing the point. The point is, the widow gave all she had to God and that action reflected the fact that her heart was trusting Him in faith. The rich dude gave a tiny fraction of his horde of coin – and that reflected the fact that he was still trusting in his cash to save the day (or… alternately, his life, his health, his dignity, etc) – and that’s beside the fact he was making a show of it.
So, what are the principles we can pull from this as ‘sons of light’?
1. When it comes to giving, think in terms of faithfulness – not in terms of bank balance. “What does faithfulness look like in my context?”
2. Be faithful with little (most of us, if you’re like me, have ‘little’). Be generous to God – everything you have is on loan from Him anyway.
3. What faithfulness looks like in your heart and in your bank balance never changes, no matter whether you have much or little.
4. Financial faithfulness is rooted in trusting God to provide:
Matthew 6:31-33 ESV
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Throughout Scripture, God delights in being the one who ultimately meets our needs and sustains us. When we focus on meeting our needs and sustaining ourselves (regardless of the method), that is an act of idolatry – we’ve removed God from one of his self-declared functions and replaced him with a Saviour of our own making. In the context of what we’re talking about, this means we must strive not to allow ourselves to be anxious about our finances, but to entrust them to the God who provides and sustains us as we strive to be faithful and “seek his kingdom” above our own. It doesn’t mean that we be foolish/lax in earning or handling our resources (Proverbs has much to say about that), only that we entrust them to God and live that out in faithful, trusting serenity. God PROMISES to take care of us when we trust him to. Test that promise!
This brings us to the close of our passage:
Luke 16:14-15 ESV
The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Let us be mindful of the fact that living out the principles of this parable will appear utterly worthy of ridicule to ubelievers (and to ourselves in our unbelief!). Particularly if we are among those who have made a god of money – to whom it is a (dys)functional saviour, all of the above is utter nonsense. Remember that what the unbelieving world exalts (debt lifestyle, getting rich quick, extravagant living, unnecessary poverty, laziness, workoholism, loving money and using people rather than using money to love people) is an abomination in God’s sight.
With that in mind, let those of us who are ‘sons of light’, who belong to Christ Jesus and are “called by his Name” be those who entrust ourselves to God, wholly and faithfully handling what we have (little or great) and leveraging it for His Kingdom, for His Honour, and for His Glory.
Let’s close with an admonition from Paul:
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 ESV
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
Amen.
…sounds like something about welding
12 years ago
by Jerry
in Bible Study
Current Tunage: Stavesacre – Fear And Love
Stavesacre have found themselves on rotation lately following the release of their possible swan song, their EP “Against The Silence”.
I’ve been working my way through learning a really helpful study method (that I discovered through yesterday’s post on John Piper) called “Arcing”. So far, it’s nothing revolutionary in terms of the concepts, but having it all systematized and segmented into steps (and having all the tools provided in-browser) is in fact quite revolutionary. So far I’m finding it quite helpful despite not being done the Arcing 101 curriculum.
Check it out if you’re into Bible Study:
Bible Arc – Graphical Exegesis
…the difference between knowing and knowing
02 years ago
Current Tunage: Plankeye – The Meaning Of It All
I’m among the few who really prefer the second iteration of Plankeye. That probably says a lot about my tastes, I guess. I also like Fanmail better than the first Plankeye. Go figure.
Preaching isn’t something I’ve done in a few years. Back when I lived in Peterborough, I had the opportunity on a handful of occasions to preach on a Sunday morning from the pulpit of my local church. I don’t think I understood at the time just how unusual that was – a young guy, not particularly qualified (no fancy degree or ordination… or pastorate) – preaching a Sunday morning message. Some of the “blame” can be attributed to the tradition I was a part of at the time (and still respect), but ultimately I’ll chalk it up to God’s grace.
There’s something spectacular about taking Scripture to people – and not just blathering at them for 45 minutes. There’s something amazing about really conveying truth through exposition… and watching as God makes his words powerful in people’s lives. It’s humbling how much he accomplishes. More humbling, of course, when in the process he has made his word powerful in the preacher’s own life as well.
This morning a new post by James MacDonald hit my RSS Reader. I recommend you check it out here. It’s a post passing down advice from his many years in preaching ministry, primarily concerned with how to communicate better.
With that as background, James’ basic advice to young preachers concerning how to better communicate as they preach… is this:
The simple move I made, and commend to you, is setting up the word before you need it. By making the word significant in the hearers’ mind before you want to use it, you accelerate your move from explanation to application.
He illustrates his point with this video – in which “know” is the significant word:
(Note: The video didn’t make the transition here. Check it out here: http://blog.harvestbiblefellowship.org/?p=3180 )
As I’ve found myself at one of life’s many crossroads following graduation, I’ve been considering deeply how and where God would have me serve him. I’d love to say I have some answers to that important question, but for now I’m still searching through his words, spending time wrestling with him… falling down and getting back up again. In the last couple days I’ve been reconsidering pursuing a Masters degree at a good Seminary, not out of some bondage to schooling (ha!), but because there is in me a strange, growing glimmer of desire to pursue it.
This morning I’ve been thinking more about the short clip that James posted (and that I’ve reposted above). He makes a brilliant point – Jesus doesn’t just know in a fact-based, sensory, empirical-data, observation-oriented way… he knows experientially, and that’s a whole new echelon of ‘knowing’.
Hearing it made me recall my pastor’s message this past week from Jeremiah 15, in which he highlighted Jeremiah 15:15a… which says “O LORD, you know“.
As I considered these two messages – one brief and provided as an illustration, the other a straightforward reminder… my mind was drawn to Philippians 3:
Philippians 3:8-11 ESV
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith– (10) that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (11) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Here’s what occurred to me: Both of the messages that I heard ruminated on the fact that God knows – not just factually and logically, but experientially… empathetically.
Here’s my response-thought: We are called to know God in the same way that He knows us. Experientially and empathetically; intimately – not just factually and empirically. The Apostle Paul nails this in Philippians 3 when he talks about knowing Christ in the same breath as he yearns to ‘share in his sufferings’, and to become ‘like him in his death’. The grammar in English is a little tricky, but it is still clear that Paul isn’t talking about some kind of abstract, purely schoolbook knowledge… he’s talking about a knowledge characterized by intimacy of relationship. He’s talking about sharing in Jesus’ sufferings and becoming like Jesus in his death… right after saying he wants to know Jesus and his power.
Hopefully nobody’s surprised when I say that there’s a difference between knowing Jesus and truly knowing Jesus. Lots of people know Jesus factually or theologically or empirically… but so few know him experientially the way Paul talks about. So few even want to know him that way – it comes at a great cost.
It will cost you your hobbies, your time-wasters, your habits, your lust, your selfishness, your self-sufficiency, your fears, your lies, your leisure, your friends, your family, your comfort, your poverty, your wealth, your mental illness, your mental wholeness, your certainty… it will cost you everything if you choose to follow Jesus. In Luke 9:23, he called it your cross.
Lets take them up… let’s know him and follow him, not just with a head-full of factoids and memory verses we can’t remember the location of, but with hearts inclined toward him, with a sacrificial way of living that trusts him to provide and spares nothing that would get in the way of our being closer to him.
Someone asked me this week: “If God seems far away… who moved?”. By implication or otherwise, the answer is always “me”. Let’s do everything we can this week to close the gap – let’s be people who are willing to kill our hobbies, to kill our habits, to kill our entertainment… and to build defenses against their return… as we seek to truly know Jesus through scripture, through prayer, through obedience, and through all the ‘sharing’ and ‘becoming’ that will surely come out of being faithful in those ways. Let’s stop just ‘knowing’, and start really ‘knowing’.
…thirty years of bad hair that nobody cares about
1Current Tunage: Fee – Glory to God Forever
It’s strange to me to hear a recorded song that up until now I’ve only heard in church. Usually it’s the other way around.
I was introduced to Dr. John Piper when I was in Bible College and his manifesto on Christian Hedonism (“Desiring God”) was our text for Spiritual Life Emphasis week. The book for me was a turning point, speaking of my long-held faith in terms I’d seldom heard used in association with it, and suggesting a worldview far larger and more encompassing (and satisfying) than what I, in my childish understanding of Scripture, could have fathomed prior.
I recall with some fondness that back in my second and third years of University, I would often listen to JP (as I sometimes affectionately refer to him) on the city bus as it took me to Trent’s Symons campus, headphones square on my head… with Bible in my lap. Amidst all the plethora of delicious hyphenated adjectives (ie. “Gospel-soaked”), I found my heart caught hold of just a small glimmer of the power that the faithful preaching of scripture can exert.
This morning I had the privilege (and I mean that) of reading an account by Justin Taylor of how God called Dr. John Piper into the pastorate thirty years ago today. Something in me surged as I read this. Have a look, you might just find that your response is quite the same: 30 Years Ago Today: How God Called John Piper to Become a Pastor.
