On the Bookshelves

This morning I'm sitting in a Barnes & Noble about to pick up a book for my son we ordered and reading a little. I always like to venture over to the "Christianity" section to see what passes for a "Christian" book these days among popular culture. It's always an interesting perusal. 

Of all the books that were located in their section labeled "best sellers" or "top sellers" within the Christianity section, I think there is only one that I would recommend. And, that was a compilation book of some of CS Lewis's works. And, that's out of about 20 or 25 books on the shelves. And, that doesn't even include the devotional section (don't get me started!)

Among the so-called "Christian" section as a whole, there are books by those who are solidly biblical, and then there are those that are, well, shall we say, not so biblical in their approach.

Dear brothers and sisters, the call for spiritual discernment is as important today as it ever has been. Spiritual discernment is the ability to discern (make judgments, evaluate according to biblical criteria) truth from error (Hebrews 5:14). Tim Challies defines it this way: "the skill of understanding and applying God’s Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong." The subtlety of Satan's deception is that he disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) giving a little bit of what is true to suck in unsuspecting readers and slowly but surely going in for the kill to destroy a person's spiritual life and eventually seek to sever their connection to the bible as the ultimate standard of spiritual truth. The cover of the book might be colorful or even not so colorful, but it might be just that, a cover--the clothing of a wolf on the inside (Matthew 7:15-20). Just because it's under the "Christian" label, it may not be truly biblical.

Know the bible. Read the bible. Understand the bible. Read books with discernment.

1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour"

Been thinkin'...yes, that can be dangerous

Busy, busy, busy...our lives, right? Who said we had to be that busy? Have we succumbed to pressure of the culture to join the "rat race"? Have we let the "way of the culture" be in the driver's seat of our lives? Have we done some of this to ourselves? Have we bought into a particular "rhythm of life" that is not conducive to giving attention to the things that matter the most?

Have we done the same thing in church life? Ah, didn't know that's where we were going with this, huh? What if a "calendar stuffed" with activity after activity, event after event, isn't actually helping us accomplish the mission that Jesus gave us to accomplish? What if we began to evaluate all of our decisions about activities, events, etc. based upon their potential to advance the totality of the disciple-making enterprise: connecting with those far away from God, establishing relationships, providing a rhythm of life that is conducive to discipling others, worship, etc.......what if?

What would change? How would our priorities shift? What would our calendars look like...as individuals, as families, as churches? How can we give greater intentionality to our calendars and our lives for the purpose of the Great Commission?

This...this is a work in progress...

Walking with God

My dad preached our homecoming service yesterday with Beulah Baptist Church. He preached a sermon about Enoch in Genesis 5 who "walked with God". 

And, wouldn't you know it, one of my devotional readings this morning was about that very text, "walking with God". It was from Oswald Chambers' devotional, My Utmost for His Highest. 

Part of his meditation on the concept of "walking with God" went as follows:

The test of a man's religious life and character is not what he does in the exceptional moments of life, but what he does in the ordinary times, where there is nothing tremendous or exciting on. The worth of a man is revealed in his attitude to ordinary things when he is not before the footlights. 

So often, we are looking for the next big event, the next mountain-top experience, the next emotional burst. What if, instead of looking for the "next big thing", we simply "walked with God" daily in communion with him following Jesus rightly related to the Father in the "ordinary" things of life seeking to do what Jesus did in making disciples?

Growth

There's quite a bit of talk (and has been for some time) about church growth. Do you want "your" church to grow? Some random thoughts have come to my mind lately, mostly in the form of questions.

• What kind of growth are we talking about?
• Are we talking numerical growth?
• Are we talking spiritual growth? Or, both?
• What kind of growth do we aim for?
• Do we want "flash in the pan" kind of big spurt growth?
• Are we talking about slow, sustainable growth?
• To use Andy Stanley's phrase, are we looking for "deep and wide" growth?
• What kind of growth do we normally celebrate in our specific Christian circles?
• Are we even to "seek" after growth, and do we measure "growth" using the same standards of measurement the world does?
• Why do we celebrate "success" the way we do?

Anyway, I don't know that I've come to answers to all these questions that satisfy my curiosity; in fact, I'm pretty sure I haven't. I'm just trying myself to follow Jesus and help others do the same.

Why do we have to complicate things so much? Just sayin...

In the Wake of...

We are seeing the fulfillment of the “perilous times” Paul spoke of in 2 Timothy in a very pronounced way in our day. In fact, we are seeing the other part of his prediction: “while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived”. Therefore, in one sense, what is happening in our society should not surprise us. While we as Christians are not suffering physical persecution, a hostile and intolerant attitude toward Bible-believing Christians is present in many sectors of our society. The form of persecution that many Christians are experiencing in our society today varies from marginalization in the public square to personal intimidation to just louder shouts from those who oppose us. It is true, whether a good thing or not I don’t know, Christians have had a more positive and respected place in our society in the past; but, those days are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Jesus says to his kingdom citizens in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Peter writes to his audience, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

So, what is the Christian response? Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

In all seriousness, I’m not sure recent events change anything for the church and her primary mission.