Praying for the church
May 14, 2010 | Comments Off
Do you pray regularly, fervently for this church, or for whatever church you attend? Here are some ways to pray for God’s power to be displayed in His church:
- hundreds of people coming to Christ,
- old animosities being removed,
- marriages being reconciled and renewed,
- wayward children coming home,
- long-standing slavery to sin being conquered,
- spiritual dullness being replaced by vibrant joy,
- weak faith being replaced by bold witness,
- disinterest in prayer being replaced by fervent intercession,
- boring Bible reading being replaced by passion for the Word,
- disinterest in global missions being replaced by energy for Christ’s name among the nations, and
- lukewarm worship being replaced by zeal for the greatness of God’s glory.
(HT: Justin Taylor, Desiring God)
Gospel culture
May 14, 2010 | Comments Off
Ray Ortlund posts today about the kind of culture the Gospel should create in us. In addition to some piercing comments from Philippians 2:3, he includes this quote from Jonathan Edwards:
“Spiritual pride is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christianity. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit, to darken the mind and mislead the judgment. It is the main source of all the mischief the devil introduces, to clog and hinder a work of God.
Spiritual pride tends to speak of other persons’ sins with bitterness or with laughter and levity and an air of contempt. But pure Christian humility rather tends either to be silent about these problems or to speak of them with grief and pity. Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others, but a humble Christian is most guarded about himself. He is as suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart. The proud person is apt to find fault with other believers, that they are low in grace, and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are and to be quick to note their deficiencies. But the humble Christian has so much to do at home and sees so much evil in his own heart and is so concerned about it that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He is apt to esteem others better than himself.”
Jonathan Edwards, Works (Edinburgh, 1979), I:398-400. Style updated.
How is your view of yourself versus your view of others? Read the whole post to see how Ortlund grounds humility toward others (read: Gospel culture) in the Gospel and in the very nature of God.
On spiritual gifts
May 6, 2010 | Comments Off
If you missed Tim’s sermon last night from 1 Corinthians 12 on the nature and use of spiritual gifts, go here immediately and listen to it (or go later to our sermonaudio.com page–it’s not there yet but will be soon).
And then check out these articles written by my dear friend and mentor Juan Sanchez, pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, TX. He has been preaching through 1 Corinthians, and in connection with that series has written several blog articles answering frequently asked questions on spiritual gifts. They are sure to be helpful and edifying to you.
Ignorance is NOT bliss in matters of the Spirit
Are miraculous gifts for today?
Where do spiritual gifts come from?
What do we know about spiritual gifts?
What is the purpose of spiritual gifts?
How do you know God is present?
How do I discover my spiritual gift?
I hope these brief articles are a helpful resource to you both in personal study and in helping others to understand how God intends for us to live in the household of faith.
Ways to preserve unity in the body
May 5, 2010 | Comments Off
From Ray Ortlund, here are seven ways from the Scriptures to guard and repair relationships. Be sure to read his (highly helpful) comments on each of these seven here.
1. We can rejoice in one another, because the Lord rejoices in us. (Psalm 16:3)
2. We can create an environment of trust rather than negative scrutiny. (1 Corinthians 4:5)
3. We can judge ourselves, even as we give each other the benefit of the doubt. (Matthew 7:5)
4. If a problem must be addressed, we can talk to, not about. Gossip destroys. (Matthew 18:15; James 1:26)
5. If a problem must be addressed, we can avoid blanket statements but identify factual specifics, offer a positive path forward and preserve everyone’s dignity.
6. We can always extend kindness. (Ephesians 4:32)
7. When we do wrong one another, we can say to the person harmed, “I was wrong. I am sorry. It won’t happen again. Is there anything I could do now that might make a positive difference?” (Genesis 33:4)
New Testament “One Another” Commands
May 5, 2010 | Comments Off
In the context of our series on community, I thought this list would be good by way of stirring you up, reminding you of our duties toward each other in the New Covenant community. (The list comes courtesy of bulletininserts.org.)
- Be at peace with one another. Mk. 9:50
- Wash one another’s feet. Jn. 13:14
- Love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Jn. 13:34
- Love one another with brotherly affection. Rom. 12:10
- Outdo one another in showing honor. Rom. 12:10
- Live in harmony with one another. Rom. 12:16
- Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. Rom. 15:7
- Greet one another with a holy kiss. Rom 16:16, 2 Cor. 13:12
- Wait for one another. 1 Cor. 11:33
- Comfort one another, agree with one another. 2 Co. 13:11
- Through love serve one another. Gal. 5:13
- Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Gal. 6:2
- Bear with one another in love. Eph. 4:2
- Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Eph. 4:32
- Address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Eph. 5:19
- Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph. 5:21
- Do not lie to one another. Col. 3:9
- Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other. Col. 3:13
- Teach and admonish one another in all wisdom. Col. 3:16
- Encourage one another. 1 Th. 4:18 , Heb. 10:25
- Encourage one another and build one another up. 1 Th. 5:11
- Always seek to do good to one another. 1 Th. 5:15
- Exhort one another every day. Heb. 3:13
- Stir up one another to love and good works. Heb. 10:24
- Do not speak evil against one another. Jas. 4:11
- Do not grumble against one another. Jas. 5:9
- Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another. Jas. 5:16
- Love one another earnestly from a pure heart. 1 Pe. 1:22
- Keep loving one another earnestly. 1 Pe. 4:8
- Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Pe. 4:9
- Serve one another. 1 Pe. 4:10
- Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. 1 Pe. 5:5
- Greet one another with the kiss of love. 1 Pe. 5:14
- Love one another. 1 Jn. 3:11, 1 Jn. 3:23, 1 Jn. 4:7, 1 Jn. 4:12, 2 Jn. 1:5
Christian community, part 4 (finally)
May 4, 2010 | Comments Off
Apologies for the blog silence over the past few weeks. I was preparing for a piano recital I gave in St. Louis last Sunday. I am very thankful that the church allows me the opportunity to do things like this, and I am also grateful to Blake Loy and Steve Brack, who willingly and skillfully filled in during my absence.
I want to continue sharing some thoughts regarding Christian community. (You can review the previous posts here: part 1, part 2, part 3.) Consider this statement from Jesus:
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
This is a huge statement. To my knowledge, it is the only statement Jesus makes about how the world will know we are His disciples. So the one and only characteristic Jesus gives for showing the world who we are is love, and more specifically, the same kind of self-sacrificing, unconditional love Christ shows to us (see verse 34).
In my small group we have been discussing the implications of this truth for how we live in community with each other. First of all, Jesus’ words here demand that we show love in concrete ways. It is not enough to say we have love; we must show it (1 John 3:16-18). Second, we must love each other in ways that the world can see. For if, as Francis Schaeffer put it, our primary apologetic to the world is our love for each other, then the world must actually be able to see how we love each other.
How does this flesh out in your life? Our group discussed how simply spending time at each other’s houses can be a way of letting the world see our Christ-like love: and in fact, the family who hosts our group has seen this with one of their neighbors in particular, who has noticed that we all gather a couple times a month. Serving each other in tangible ways can also be a witness to the world; perhaps you are skilled in car repair, or you’re handy around the house, or you can offer babysitting, or you can just give a meal (even when it’s not been requested).
The bottom line is that we have to actually be others’ lives in order to actually love them, and in order to be seen loving them. Practicing this kind of self-sacrificial love toward each other requires a complete re-orientation of our lives. As my first article on community points out, we who are in Christ no longer belong to ourselves; we belong to Christ, and to His body, the church. So we must live in such a way that shows this to be true–both to each other, and to the world.