Parenting

At our latest LIFE Group meeting – that is the small group ministry at my church – we began a parenting study.  Our group has families in different stages with different issues and so we felt like a parenting study would be beneficial.  So, in the spirit of equipping fellow believers, I thought I would post my notes from the session.

Myth:  ”It’s the job of the church to be the primary spiritual growth mechanism in the life of my family”.

Fact:  God has charged us as parents with the role of teaching our children the truth of His Word.  The purpose of the church is partner and come alongside the family by means of equipping the family.  This is seen in Acts 2:42-47.

Fellow parents, we must realize that the church (I use lower case because I am referring to the organization, not the living organism) is not responsible for the spiritual development of our families.  Now, I love Sunday mornings and I love my church, but, the American church is too over-burdened (some to the point of being defective) in too many areas to be the lead care-giver in our spiritual lives.  I hear too many people say “I left because I wasn’t getting fed”.  Copout answer.  That tells me that the person leaving is either A) unsure on how to voice disapproval in theology/doctrine being taught, or B) totally dependent upon the church for spiritual growth and never cracks a Bible open on their own.

So, I believe the first thing we as parents have to realize is how/why God created us in the first place.  And we were created for spiritual purposes.  This list is certainly not exhaustive, but, here is what I have:

1.  We were created for the purpose of finding identity in Christ and for the purpose of having spiritual authority.  Gen. 1:26.

 

2.  We were created for the purpose of community/relationship that is intimate.  Exodus 33:11.

 

3.  We were created for the purpose of being a messenger of the Gospel.  Matthew 28:19-20.

So, if we were created for identity and authority, relationship and disciple-making, what better place to start than with our children.

Find Deuteronomy 6 in your bible and get ready to highlight and make notes.

6 Spiritual Components Necessary in Raising Our Children:
1.  Teach our children to have a deep love for God.  vs 5

2.  Teach our children to have a  deep love for Scripture.  vs 6

3.  Teach our children the Scriptures diligently at every given opportunity.  vs 7-9

4.  Teach our children to remember God’s faithfulness.  vs10-12

5.  Teach our children to fear God.  To guide them in a life of awe and reverence and to see the bigness and majesty of God.  vs 13-17.

6.  Build a legacy to leave our children that is based on God’s faithfulness to His children.  vs 20-25.

 

Not only do I believe these things will transform our families, but, they may just transform our churches as well.

 

God bless you and your family.

 

 

What’s Missing?

Simplicity.  Intimacy.  Two words that are valuable.  Two words we cherish and deeply desire.

We want life to be simple.  We want relationships to be simple.  We even want our meals to be simple.  We often use the phrase “It’s too complicated” and that phrase throws us into chaos and frustration.  We don’t like complicated.  Complicated is confusing.

Intimacy.  We long for it.  We desire it.  It’s romantic.  It speaks of deep love and pure, honest vulnerability.  Sometimes intimate times can be had in the arms of a lover and other times intimacy can be found in a quiet evening at home reading a book.

 

I think those are the two things that the Church- congregational and personal –  is missing the most.

 

If you love the “show” of church, don’t read any further.  You’ll be offended.

 

If you are tired of the “show” of church, keep reading.  You’ll find refreshment in the Scripture.

 

The Bible shows us that simple and intimate is the way God wants us to live.  There is nothing simple nor intimate about a works based, performance driven, numbers-define-success religion/church.  There is no rest or freedom in that type of system.  The American church has become a corporate-model driven organization who defines success by performance and numbers.  This doesn’t seem to fit with how Jesus functioned in His earthly ministry.  It doesn’t seem to fit how God revealed Himself to the prophets.  It doesn’t seem to fit how God revealed Himself to Moses and how He conversed with Moses.  The American church seems to be fixated on lights, the importance of a signature sound for the band, how funny and entertaining the preacher is, video, the list goes on and on and on…….

On a personal level we chase the next book or worship CD.  What is the next great teaching that will revolutionize my walk with Jesus?  Just listen to a morning show give you fifty different ways to make your life simple.  And that’s just in one episode.  Come back the next day for fifty more.  So we come back only to find out that the ones they told us about yesterday are now obsolete and don’t work.  Who can do all those things?  We treat Jesus like the ten lepers He healed, however, we tend to be like the nine that never came back because life was all about them and what they could get out of it.  They got what they wanted/needed and moved on the find the next big thing.  It’s a very confusing and crippling circle that entraps us.  Life gets dizzy and out of control.

Lights, video, sound, books, etc.  are not in and of themselves evil and horrible.  However, when the purpose, success and identity of walking with God  is defined by these things, the cart has gotten well ahead of the horse.  The cart may have actually left the horse behind.  The point is that simplicity and intimacy can be lost in these.

Here is how Scripture proves the importance of simplicity and intimacy.

Exodus 33:11 – “The LORD would speak to Moses, as a man speaks with his friend.”

Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God.  And I will be exalted among the nations.  I will be exalted in the earth.”

1 Kings 19:11-13 –  ”The LORD said, “’Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’   Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.”

Matthew 11:28 - “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Mark 1:35 – “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.”

 

Do you see the simple, intimate moments?  Is this what is missing in our worship?  Not just corporate with our church body, but, in our personal times?  Are we so wrapped up in trying to “get” and “grasp” the big idea that we lose the simple, intimate time with Jesus?  Have we lost the “take it slow” approach in our relationship with Jesus?  In a dating the relationship the thing that everyone wants is to “take it slow”.  ”Let’s not rush this” or “Let’s really get to know each other”.  Sometimes in our walk with Jesus or our ministry at church we want results fast and now.  ”Show me the immediate result or take-away right now”.  Maybe we need to return to this approach in our walk with God and our ministry: “Let’s take this slow.  Day by day.  One step at a time.”  I wonder what God would reveal?

 

Father God,
I need You to slow me down.  I need to be reigned in.  I need to be still.  Lord, help me to go slow.  To cherish each moment with You.  Show me the things in my life that have caused my walk with You to be complicated.  Remove the things that keep me from true intimacy with You.  Help me to be quiet in order that I might hear Your whisper.  Help me to rest in You.   Give me Your yoke for Your burden is light.  Remove the weight from my shoulders.  Renew within in me a steadfast spirit and a clean heart.  

Another Lesson on Faith. Hebrews 11.

Read the passage here.

Not sure how many times I’ve read this passage or heard it preached or referenced.  Many times, faith is presented as something we do.  Ever seen the illustration of sitting on a stool or a chair?  Makes faith look like something I just decide to do.  Not a fan of that illustration.  Why?  I am learning right now that faith – the faith of Ephesians 2:8 - is not something that is done or that I do, rather, it is something I become through God’s work in my life.  The action of faith is simply the result of something I have become.  In God’s economy, “Be” comes before “Do”.  In order to do the action of faith I must become a man of faith.

 

God will test.

 

I land on verse 6.  This is one of 2 main points in this chapter.  The key to gaining the blessings of God is to seek Him.  Seek His blessings before seeking God and you miss God.  In my life lately that’s what I’ve done.  I have the process reversed.  Seek Him first.  I must come to the place where seeking/desiring God is enough.  Even if the blessings and rewards never come, God and seeking Him must be enough.  This brings me to the second point I think the author wants us to get – the people of Hebrews 11 never received what was promised.

 

What?

 

Didn’t receive?

 

I thought it said that God rewards those who seek Him?

 

The proof is in verse 39.  Read it.  Disprove me.

 

Why did they not receive what was promised?  Because seeking God was enough.  Fulfilling.  Absolute.  Satisfying.  God was and must be enough.

 

But what of the reward?

 

God is the reward.  The prize.  The diamond in the rough.  The treasure buried in a field that is so valuable that one would sell absolutely everything he owns in order to purchase the field for the purpose of owning the treasure.

God is worth more than anything I have or anything I could ever desire.

 

God is enough.

Shattered Expectations. 1 Kings 19:9-18

Read the passage here.

Expectations.  In the fall, we always expect great things from our favorite football team.  For many of us, those expectations slowly go through a shattering process as the season drags on.  We then look in hindsight at the preseason polls and say “What happened?  I thought this was our year”.  Expectations.

I can relate to Elijah in this story.  Not because people are trying to kill me, but, in the way his expectations were shattered when it came time to hear God.  We all have certain expectations on how and when God should speak.  And with His speaking we expect reward and blessing many times.  Hey – there’s that word again – expectations.  I have been seeking the voice of the Lord for 8 months now.  It feels like a fog.  A thick, San Francisco-type, pea soup fog.  Zero visibility.  Question – why should walking with God feel like a fog?  Even in the wilderness Moses knew God was leading.  Maybe that’s another post for another day.

Back to Elijah and how I can relate.

Elijah was hanging out in a cave.  He went to the mouth of the cave many times.  Each time something big and powerful and loud happened.  Earthquake.  Fire.  Thunder. Lighting.  Powerful winds.  The bible says it tore the mountain up.  Ol’ Elijah went to the mouth of the cave every time something happened.  He was sure God would show up in the obvious.  What happened?  Nothing.  No voice.  No God.  No answer.  No revelation.  Nothing.  His life was like a Seinfeld episode.  A show about nothing.  How many times did he go to the mouth of the cave?  How long was he even in the cave?  Hours?  Days?  Weeks?  Months?

Finally, God speaks.

In a whisper.

Quiet.

Simple.

Think back to the sentence I wrote of Elijah seeking God in the obvious.  The whisper wasn’t obvious.  I think that’s where we lose our way.  Looking for God in the obvious.  Looking where we – dare I say it – expect Him to be.  Looking in our place of expectation.

Here’s where I am:
1.  I want to hear from and walk with God.

2.  I want it to be clear resulting in what I have been expecting.

As my friend, Mike Curry, would say – “Oops”.

I see that I want the big, loud, flashy God who gives all that I want and all that I think I deserve and expect.  God showed Himself to Elijah in a gentle whisper.  That’s what I need to be listening for in this fog that I’ve created.  The quiet whisper.  The opposite of my expectation.  As a matter of fact, my expectations need to die.  At the foot of the cross.  My expectations need to be replaced with His will.  The only thing to desire is God.  Not my expectations.  Not even His blessings.  God must absolutely be enough.

What Adam Gave Away, Christ Came to Reclaim. Romans 5:12-21

Read the passage here.

All kids fear the garage sale.  The garage sale is the dreaded time when Mom comes roaring through a child’s bedroom with an empty box that reads “garage sale” written with thick, black permanent marker.  The purpose?  Get rid of stuff the child no longer plays with or needs and make a meager twenty five cents for a toy that to a child at one time seemed priceless.  Now, these toys aren’t priceless forever.  There comes a point when the toy is left to fend for itself at the bottom of a toy box or the back of a closet.  The toy’s former glory is only remembered after some stranger barters their way to t0 a five cent treasure.  The toy begins as a child’s treasure, later becomes something that’s not that important and eventually becomes priceless and treasured only after it’s gone.  It seems as though Adam treated the identity of the human race the same way.  Priceless, yet something that could be traded.  Priceless once again.  Adam gave away something that was eternal and beautiful for something that was temporary and fading.  Our identity, authority and life in God.  In one fatal decision, he placed us on the table at the garage sale and sold our souls like a cheap toy to the lowest bidder.   He thought he was getting a great deal, but, sold a priceless treasure for a nickel.  Life traded for death.   His decision brought about sin, death and condemnation.  This is why Jesus had to come do what He did.  He came as a second Adam.  Adam came as a sinless man bringing the identity and authority of Jesus Christ to the planet.  He gave it away.  Jesus came as a sinless second Adam to reclaim what the first Adam gave away.  With the first, life was traded for death.  With the second, death was traded for life.  Just as death came through Adam, life came through Christ.  Just as sin and condemnation came through Adam, forgiveness and justification came through Christ.

We Can Persevere Because God Saved Us From Himself. Romans 5:1-11

Read the passage here.

What is the ultimate trial you’ve ever experienced?  Mine happened fifteen years ago to the day.  My dad entered into a medical crisis that should have resulted in his death, but, instead resulted in life.  It’s a long story.  But, basically, my dad had gone in for a routine heart surgery, ended up in a medical coma, had multiple organ failure and was all but declared clinically dead.  A friend from East Texas listened to God.  Climbed on his chest and told him to wake up.  He did.  During the 3 months he was out, it was hard.  I hated – HATED – God.  I was ready to give God the finger and walk away.  So, those of you who feel like this now – I understand.  I get it.  What I learned from that experience changed me forever.

I learned that God still cared for me and my family.  Romans 5:1-5 became a reality for me.  In my suffering, I had a brutally honest conversation with God on the 17th floor of Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.  I told Him exactly how I felt.  He listened.  In His quiet voice, He reminded me of Job.  In his trails, God never left him.  He reminded me that He was bigger than all of the medical problems.  I was broken in my suffering.  I remember riding the elevator back down to the 4th floor CICU (Critical Intensive Care Unit) thinking “Prove it, God”.

Not long after that conversation, our heart surgeon, Dr. Kimble Jett, came to us and shared with us that he had been up all night praying in the book of John and God told him that death was not in this picture.  I was humbled and broken yet again.  I began to see the suffering produce perseverance.  My spirit was strengthened – character.  Hope began to rise.  A hope that was certain that my dad was walking out of Baylor Medical Center.  A few weeks later, hope did not disappoint.  I remember driving from Marshall, Texas – I was in college.  As I got to the hospital, my mom ushered me quickly to my dad’s bedside.  His eyes were opened.  He was eating ice.  He looked at me.  Hope does not disappoint.  HOPE does NOT disappoint.

What was the source of my perseverance?  Romans 5:6-11 gives us the source of hope.  At the right time, Christ died for us.  Through Christ, God saved us from Himself in order that we might know Him and have life to the fullest.  Yes – God rescued us from His own wrath in order that we might know Him and experience His life and He might be glorified and made famous.  I’m not sure how I would have persevered had I not been justified by grace through faith in order that I might have His hope.  Adonai Nissi.  The LORD is my miracle.

Taking A Break

For the 5 people that read this blog, I’ll be taking a break for a few weeks.  I’m preaching at my church on February 27 on Romans 4:1-12.  I am right now asking the Holy Spirit to cover me with that passage and help me to live in it.  I’ll resume my blogging on Romans after the 27th.  I will pick up with Romans 4 beginning in verse 13.  God bless and pray for me as I prepare to bring God’s Word.

Romans 4:1-12. God does. We become.

Read the passage here.

I want to break down 4:1-12 in two parts:

Part 1
How was Abraham counted righteous?

Part 2
Who can be counted righteous?

Often asked is the question of how  the Old Testament saints – Moses, Abraham, etc. – were saved.  There was no cross only law.  How did they experience life-changing salvation and righteousness that comes from God?  The answer is in Romans 4:3 but it is answered even earlier in Genesis 15:6:  ”Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  The same was true for Moses, David, Jeremiah, Noah, the list goes on and on.  The requirement for obtaining the righteousness of God in the Old Testament was simple:  believe God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.  What was the responsibility of Abraham or Moses or whoever?  Respond in obedience.  There’s a vast difference between response vs. work. Yes, we will do works – but – our works should be our response that is based in obedience.  Obedience produces works.  Not the other way around.   This is a major vein of thought here in Romans.  I enjoy my job.  I love the work I do.  I love my paycheck.  But, I expect my paycheck every two weeks because of contractual agreement.  I agree to work at Grace as the worship pastor and Grace agrees in turn to pay me for my labor.  My paycheck at work is not a gift.  It is based on a contract between two persons.  I don’t do the work – I don’t get paid.  As a matter of fact, the contract can be voided should I decide to go somewhere else to work or I do something contrary to my job requirements.  In the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 17, God shows Abraham that works-based righteousness is not in God’s design.  In this covenant, God uses the phrases “As for me” and “As for you”.  These phrases define the role of each party that is to be involved in this covenant.  God places all the responsibility of the covenant in His own hands.  Look at the passage:

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

In this covenant, God declares what Abraham will become as a result of what God will do.  In our relationship with Jesus, He does and we become.  Our becoming is a result of His doing.  Works-based righteousness turns that around to we do and God becomes. This is a futile way of thinking and living.  In the same chapter of Genesis, God follows the covenant with how Abraham is to respond in obedience :

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. ¹⁰ This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. ¹³ Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

This is how Abraham is to respond.  The rite of circumcision.  A constant, physical reminder of the covenant God made with Abraham.  We are then told later in the same chapter that Abraham went that very day and performed the rite of circumcision as God had directed.  Thus, righteousness was credited to Abraham not because of what he did.  It was credited to him because he responded in obedience to God’s covenant.  God did.  Abraham became.

My second question in this post is who can receive this righteousness?  Well, that very well may hinge on what theological camp you position yourself with these days.  My position rests in what the Holy Spirit revealed to Paul.  Paul asks if Abraham was credited before or after circumcision because when Paul wrote this passage, there were those who said circumcision was needed to be redeemed.  Well, Paul lets us know that  Abraham was credited with righteousness before his circumcision.  Abraham responded in obedience to God’s decrees before God instructed the circumcision (see Gen. 12:1-9; Gen. 17). Thus, the bestowing of righteousness upon Abraham before circumcision.  This was a huge blow to an arrogant process of thought and theology.  Transition this line of thought to the New Covenant.  If physical circumcision – this involves the shedding of blood – was required in the Old Testament to bear witness to God’s covenant of redemption,  then we are now given by the Holy Spirit a circumcision of the heart that is the mark of one who has been received  a righteousness from God.  We are now marked by the Holy Spirit with a seal guaranteeing our inheritance.  This mark is given by grace because of one’s decision to believe God is enough and God is who He says He is.  This decision is based on faith and neither the righteousness nor the faith is a work of ourselves.  This is true so that not one of us can boast in ourselves but that we should make our boast in the Lord God Almighty.  For more study on circumcision of the heart, study the following passages: 1 Corinthians 7:19, Galatians 5:6; 6:15, Philippians 3:3; Colossians 2:11.

Romans 3:21-31. Christ Turned Me from Sin

Read the passage here.

There is no salvation in works.  Our righteousness comes from faith in God.  This is the only method of redemption.  Christ was the atonement for my sin.  That is to say that Christ made amends for my wrongdoing.  He turned me from my sin.  WOW!  It is not I who turn from sin but the power of Christ in me.  I have to choose, but, Christ is either actively at work in my choice or He is not.  Back to the atonement thing – the word is defined in its root – atone.  In its root, atone acts as a verb.  The definition is “to turn away from sin or do penitence”.  I love how this definition plays out.  Get this: Jesus turned me from my sin.  It was not my work, but His completely!  Praise be to God.  Even greater is that this atonement has been made for all.  Justice is done.

Romans 3:1-20. God Is Not A Liar

Read the passage here.

I like to do my devotional scriptures on short passages.  It makes it easier to digest.  However, there are many scriptures that only make sense when placed in context of what comes before and after.  This is one of them – at least for me it is.  I was originally going to study 3:1-8, but, 1-8 doesn’t make alot of sense to me without 9-20.  Brutal passage.  Are you ready?

The self-righteous have returned.  For more on this, visit the post on Romans 2:12-16.  Paul is once again addressing the self-righeous because the attitude here is “I’m chosen.  God gave the responsibility of writing His word and His law to the Jews.  I know the scriptures.  Even in my unfaithfulness, God is faithful.  I’ll be fine in my standing with Him”.  In this line of thought there is truth and lies.

Truth #1
God chose the nation of Israel and her priests as those who would write down God’s word and His law and to make Him known among the nations.

Deuteronomy 7:5-7; Deuteronomy 14:1-3

Truth #2
In spite of my unfaithfulness, God is still faithful.

Romans 3:3-4

If these were untrue, God would be proved a liar and His glory would be stripped from Him.

Lie
“Even though I am unfaithful and continue to be unfaithful in spite of what I know about Him and what I do, God is still faithful, and I am therefore in right standing with Him based on my knowledge and my works.”

Cheap grace.   Paul will address this later in Romans 5:20-6:23.  God’s grace frees us from sin.  It does not give license to sin.

We must move into 3:9-20.  Paul makes it abundantly clear that regardless of chosen/unchosen, Jew/Gentile, white/black, there is not one who is in right standing with God based on knowledge and works.  Paul is clear that these things do not place us in right standing.  Paul quotes a myriad of Old Testament passages that convey in great detail the condition of the human heart.

““There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹ there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
¹³ “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶ ruin and misery mark their ways,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know.”
¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

I want to bring focus to Romans 3:11 – “no one who seeks God”.  The seeker-sensitive model for church is unbiblical.  Sorry to have the Word burst that bubble.  Even Bill Hybels will admit that 20+ years of doing church that way was a wrong approach.  He wrote a book about it called Reveal. The base condition of my soul is sin and out of standing with God.  I’m not declared righteous because of what I know or read about God in His word.  My sin is only magnified and revealed.  My works do not put me in right standing.  My works are either producing my salvation (meaningless) or my works are a product of my salvation (fruits/actions of obedience).  I am made in right standing only by the cross of Jesus Christ.  O God, may you make the condition and sin of my heart known to me so I might know Your salvation.