PROBABLY ALL OF US ARE CURSED WITH THIS TENSION IN PUBLIC OR CORPORATE PRAYER, BUT I FIND IT EVEN PLAGUES ME IN MY PRIVATE PRAYING - NOT ALWAYS, BUT SOMETIMES.
THE FREE SPIRIT IN ME WANTS TO THROW OF ALL FORMS IN PRAYER - ALWAYS - SO I DECIDED TO DO A SURVEY OF BIBLE PRAYERS, SO THAT I COULD TAKE THE MORAL HIGH GROUND. WHAT A SHOCK!! I FOUND THAT THEY HAD FORM, BUT IT WASN'T THE FORM I FELT WAS RESTRICTING MY PRAYING. THEIR FORM WAS DOMINATED BY A GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS, WHILE MINE WERE PREDICTABLY NEED-CENTERED.
I FEEL ADRIFT! HOW DISGUSTED THE LORD MUST BE WITH SUCH PRAYING AS I'VE BEEN USED TO DOING.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
I Can't Remember
I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT ITS LIKE:
TO WALK WITH EVEN GATE
TO TALK WITH RAPID PACE
TO SEE WITHOUT A SQUINT
TO THINK WITHOUT A HINT
I CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS:
I SANG WITH PLEASING TONE
I THREW A PLAYER OUT AT HOME
I CARRIED A GLASS INTO THE ROOM
I DIDN'T HAVE TO FIGHT THE GLOOM
I CAN'T REMEMBER ALL THE TIMES:
I WENT HOGWILD
I HELD A CHILD
I DRIBBLED A BALL
I YELLED A CALL
THESE SCENES HAVE FADED QUITE AWAY
HID IN CRACKS OF YESTERDAY
THE ONLY THINGS I NOW SEE CLEAR
ARE HARD TO REACH, BUT MUCH MORE DEAR
THAN E'RE THEY SEEMED TO ME TO BE
WHEN I NEEDED NO MEMORY
AH, BUT I REMEMBER WELL THE EVIL OF THOSE DAYS
THE SIN THAT HELD ME IN ITS GRASP AND TARNISHED ALL MY WAYS
LET THESE THOUGHTS OF SENSE AND SOUND BE FOREVER LOST
BUT LET ME NE'RE FORGET THE GRACE THAT BROUGHT ME TO THE CROSS
TO WALK WITH EVEN GATE
TO TALK WITH RAPID PACE
TO SEE WITHOUT A SQUINT
TO THINK WITHOUT A HINT
I CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS:
I SANG WITH PLEASING TONE
I THREW A PLAYER OUT AT HOME
I CARRIED A GLASS INTO THE ROOM
I DIDN'T HAVE TO FIGHT THE GLOOM
I CAN'T REMEMBER ALL THE TIMES:
I WENT HOGWILD
I HELD A CHILD
I DRIBBLED A BALL
I YELLED A CALL
THESE SCENES HAVE FADED QUITE AWAY
HID IN CRACKS OF YESTERDAY
THE ONLY THINGS I NOW SEE CLEAR
ARE HARD TO REACH, BUT MUCH MORE DEAR
THAN E'RE THEY SEEMED TO ME TO BE
WHEN I NEEDED NO MEMORY
AH, BUT I REMEMBER WELL THE EVIL OF THOSE DAYS
THE SIN THAT HELD ME IN ITS GRASP AND TARNISHED ALL MY WAYS
LET THESE THOUGHTS OF SENSE AND SOUND BE FOREVER LOST
BUT LET ME NE'RE FORGET THE GRACE THAT BROUGHT ME TO THE CROSS
Monday, July 6, 2009
COMMITTMENT
I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ.
I am a disciple of Jesus, I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me.
I am a disciple of Jesus, I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me.
THE AWAKENED SINNER
In our study of "Pilgrim's Progress," we meet up with the Puritan understanding for the need of "awakening." Pilgrim is the awakened sinner! God has grabbed hold of him, showed him the reality of his sin and the awfulness of his condemnation, as well as the inevitable outpouring of God's wrath upon him.
In Pilgrim, we probably see the more intense manifestations of awakening. It will be a little different for each man. At its inception, awakening may only be manifested as simple interest. Before a sinner's awakening, he may even have been opposed to, or put off by, gospel truth. He could have been a profligate or one of the many seeking to plead their own acceptability with God. He will almost certainly try to reform his life in some fashion.
Can we know his election of God at this point? No! Awakening is a part of the doctrine of "drawing" not of "regeneration." The gospel call goes out to all. Many are granted the mercy of awakening (like Demas), many are attracted to the blessings of the gospel (like Pliable), many of these are pronounced saved by well-meaning churches and believers (like Talkative, yet to come), but they are not regenerated and so have never truly repented and believed from the heart.
The baptism of children becomes a thorny issue because of awakening. Some children have been truly awakened, but have not yet experienced regeneration from God. Embracing them as redeemed or even covenant children exposes them to deception about their spiritual condition. How can we tell which child is truly saved? We can't! But if the doctrine of a believers-only church is the ideal, we must wisely discern, relying heavily on the Lord. Because we cannot do this process perfectly, we must be ready to distinguish between real and merely self-deceived professing believers. The church itself must always see it is in need of continued gospelizing.
This puts parents in a very difficult position. All godly parents will want to see their child baptized.
Sometimes evangelism awakens someone, but that someone is not yet saved. Watering needs to take place. What is watering? It is not restricted to recitations of the gospel at later dates. All that happens between when Pilgrim left the City of Destruction and when he finally came to the Wicket Gate and the Place of Deliverance may be seen as watering. Can someone get saved without such a protracted process? Yes! But in these days of gospel confusion and anemia, it is the exception rather than the rule.
What are some of the characteristics of the awakened but unregenerate sinner? (He will rarely have all of these. This is just a limited profile). 1) He'll show interest in spiritual things. 2) He'll want to involve himself more with Christians, the Bible, and perhaps even church. 3) He's liable to experience conviction, guilt, fear of dying, and doubts that he can be forgiven. 4) He will be teachable. 5) His life will experience some reformation while sin still dogs his steps. 6) He will be unfamiliar with the range of conditional gospel promises (the only kind there are). 7) He may still be too tied to family, friends, and this world. 8) He will have trouble truly believing and acting upon a promise of God. 9) His thinking remains quite simple, sometimes carnal – like a mere man. 10) He will give off very mixed signals.
Get used to dealing with awakened sinners who are not yet regenerated. Your evangelism should have some of these kinds of people. Don't be too quick to judge them believers. Just as much as a midwife looks for the birth to happen, you will often be the "coach" that helps with labor.
MY PERSONAL OPINION ON "AWAKENING"
The point of my previous article was simply to explain the Puritan concept of the "awakened sinner" – truly seeking, but not yet regenerated. This brings forth the obvious question regarding my own personal evaluation of this view.
In general, I'm in agreement with this notion. It helps explain many experiences and observations. But I think it can be seen as a rigid model that does not admit of many exceptions. Just as Bunyan relied heavily on his own experience before conversion when he wrote "Pilgrim's Progress," so we can forget that Eccl. 11:5-6 & John 3:8 remind us that the ways of God are mysterious and can't be put into a box. The drawing of some of the elect takes longer than with others.
That proviso having been given, I find the category to be helpful in considering what may really be happening in a person's life!
In Pilgrim, we probably see the more intense manifestations of awakening. It will be a little different for each man. At its inception, awakening may only be manifested as simple interest. Before a sinner's awakening, he may even have been opposed to, or put off by, gospel truth. He could have been a profligate or one of the many seeking to plead their own acceptability with God. He will almost certainly try to reform his life in some fashion.
Can we know his election of God at this point? No! Awakening is a part of the doctrine of "drawing" not of "regeneration." The gospel call goes out to all. Many are granted the mercy of awakening (like Demas), many are attracted to the blessings of the gospel (like Pliable), many of these are pronounced saved by well-meaning churches and believers (like Talkative, yet to come), but they are not regenerated and so have never truly repented and believed from the heart.
The baptism of children becomes a thorny issue because of awakening. Some children have been truly awakened, but have not yet experienced regeneration from God. Embracing them as redeemed or even covenant children exposes them to deception about their spiritual condition. How can we tell which child is truly saved? We can't! But if the doctrine of a believers-only church is the ideal, we must wisely discern, relying heavily on the Lord. Because we cannot do this process perfectly, we must be ready to distinguish between real and merely self-deceived professing believers. The church itself must always see it is in need of continued gospelizing.
This puts parents in a very difficult position. All godly parents will want to see their child baptized.
Sometimes evangelism awakens someone, but that someone is not yet saved. Watering needs to take place. What is watering? It is not restricted to recitations of the gospel at later dates. All that happens between when Pilgrim left the City of Destruction and when he finally came to the Wicket Gate and the Place of Deliverance may be seen as watering. Can someone get saved without such a protracted process? Yes! But in these days of gospel confusion and anemia, it is the exception rather than the rule.
What are some of the characteristics of the awakened but unregenerate sinner? (He will rarely have all of these. This is just a limited profile). 1) He'll show interest in spiritual things. 2) He'll want to involve himself more with Christians, the Bible, and perhaps even church. 3) He's liable to experience conviction, guilt, fear of dying, and doubts that he can be forgiven. 4) He will be teachable. 5) His life will experience some reformation while sin still dogs his steps. 6) He will be unfamiliar with the range of conditional gospel promises (the only kind there are). 7) He may still be too tied to family, friends, and this world. 8) He will have trouble truly believing and acting upon a promise of God. 9) His thinking remains quite simple, sometimes carnal – like a mere man. 10) He will give off very mixed signals.
Get used to dealing with awakened sinners who are not yet regenerated. Your evangelism should have some of these kinds of people. Don't be too quick to judge them believers. Just as much as a midwife looks for the birth to happen, you will often be the "coach" that helps with labor.
MY PERSONAL OPINION ON "AWAKENING"
The point of my previous article was simply to explain the Puritan concept of the "awakened sinner" – truly seeking, but not yet regenerated. This brings forth the obvious question regarding my own personal evaluation of this view.
In general, I'm in agreement with this notion. It helps explain many experiences and observations. But I think it can be seen as a rigid model that does not admit of many exceptions. Just as Bunyan relied heavily on his own experience before conversion when he wrote "Pilgrim's Progress," so we can forget that Eccl. 11:5-6 & John 3:8 remind us that the ways of God are mysterious and can't be put into a box. The drawing of some of the elect takes longer than with others.
That proviso having been given, I find the category to be helpful in considering what may really be happening in a person's life!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Speaking the Truth in Valium? Eph. 3:15
Immediate Context
Beginning in verse 11, Paul refers to 5 leader gifts (5 kinds of gifted men who are given to the church to start, teach, and care for Christ's people). The combined task of these leaders is to perform the kind of preparation that would equip God's people for ministry that would in turn lead to the building-up and spiritual increase of the church, i.e. its increasing maturity in Christ.
The Theme
Maturity in unity is clearly the theme of Eph. 4:11-16. Vs. 11-12 tell what key people God will use to accomplish this them. Vs. 13 gives us the standard by which to measure such maturity
Evidences
After "setting the bar" for us, the apostle Paul gives us three evidences of this kind of maturity: 1) stability amidst the gusts of contrary doctrine (vs. 14); 2) properly aimed truth (vs. 15); 3) many chefs making a good stew (vs. 16).
Verse 15
The Bible speaks of "speaking the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15) as a sign of spiritual maturity. This involves two things: 1) speaking the truth; 2) with love as its goal and regulating ethic.
"Speaking the truth" means more than just not telling a lie, intentionally or unintentionally. It mainly refers to sound doctrine and practice - an evidence that the mind has been saturated with the word of God and is acting and speaking under its influence.
"In love" is more frequently misunderstood. "love" here is not the same thing as "a loving manner," especially as conceived of by our culture - kind, soft, without intensity, etc. This would make Paul's phrase the equivalent of "speaking the truth in valium."
Love is a goal in the Bible (I Tim. 1:5)! The biblical ethic of love not only illuminates how we say and do things, but what we do and say, as well as why we do and say them. (by "why" I am referring to purpose, not motive!) For what we say to qualify as the spoken truth in love, it first needs to be consistent with how biblical love is described and operates in the Bible.
Was Jesus unloving when he drove out the money changers? Most of us would see the anger that erupted that day as an exhibition of righteous indignation resulting from long held convictions. Truthful words and truthful actions are not always polite and nice.
What about when Jesus verbally dressed down the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers? Since Jesus never sinned in his life, this verbal barrage would have to be in keeping with the goal of love.
What about those times when the patience of Jesus seemed to give way to frustration and disappointment with the unbelief and slowness to believe around him? Or in reference to his disciples lack of faith? Can love make you frustrated, disappointed, or impatient? Evidently it can!
In John 18:23, when Jesus was slapped across the face for speaking insolently to the high priest, he made the truthfulness of what he said, rather than its manner, the test that needed to judge his behavior.
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