Unity's Source

Faith in Christ and obedience to Christ are the unifying elements in any Christian church. Without these, there can be no real unity in the church. Moreover, we should not mistake passivity or indifference (or apathy) for Christian unity. Said another way, silence does not mean consent on today's Christian churches. So look for unity that refuses to remain silent. It speaks volumes in its actions of love.

Purpose

Without a goal (or purpose), discipline is nothing but self-punishment. So it is that discipline requires a purpose in order to be useful. If you discipline yourself in some way, or you discipline someone else, make sure you know the purpose. Make sure the purpose is worthwhile!

Human Rights

When your focus is on living for Christ, your rights become comparitively unimportant.

Roots of Sin

Unbelief is the root of many sin patterns in our life. It often lies under many of the mental, spiritual and emotional issues we face in life. So what is it that we don't believe? Typically it is God's hard truths - which may be inconvenient to believe.

Another root of sin is selfishness. In fact, look at every type of sin and one will usually find some dimension of selfishness or self-centeredness.

So if I want to address the sin in my life, I might want to start by reconciling my thinking (beliefs) with God's truths and by investigating the level of selfishness that reigns in me.

Body & Spirit

Just as our spirits impact our bodies, so our physical bodies affect our spirits. We cannot commit any sin with our body that doesn't damage our soul. The spiritual dimension is not immune to the physical dimension.

This is true of individuals. But it is also true of communal bodies, such as the church. When parts of the body of the church commit sin, the spirit of the entire church suffers.

True Humility

True humility is not about convincing yourself that you are worth less. Rather it is recognizing God's work in you. It is having God's perspective on who you are and acknowledging His grace in developing your abilities. So in reality, true humility is only possible when we realize our true worth.

On Appetites

Many people think that life is about satisfying their appetites. If they earn enough money to live the way they want - they think they are "living the good life." But such things do not satisfy our deepest longings in life. In the end, they leave us empty and dissatisfied. Real life comes from total commitment to God. It requires discipline, sacrifice and hard work - which is why most people never find it. Those things run contrary to satisfying any of our human appetites.

Changed Hearts

If our hearts are not changed (from their natural, sinful state), then doing things God's ways will be unpleasant and difficult. Our spirit will rebel against being told how to live. It will want to live life on its own terms. The Holy Spirit, however, gives us new and right desires - such that we want to obey God (Philippians 2:12-13). With a changed heart, serving God and living life His way becomes our greatest joy. This is what Jesus meant when He said, "My yoke is easy and the burden is light." Surrendered people don't struggle to live life God's way.

But of course, this all starts with the changed heart. It is not possible to be transformed by something with which we are not familiar - or by someone whom we do not really know. How familiar with God's Word am I, really? How well do I really know God?

On Curiosity

Sometimes curiosity can cause us to stumble. It is too easy to get drawn into subtle temptations of seemingly harmless practices. So to resist curiosity about harmful practices would require restraint and submission. If accomplished, it would reveal discretion and obedience. (Does this mean that the obedient are less likely to act on their curiosities?)

True Worship

The essence of true worship is honoring Christ for who He is and willingly giving Him what is valuable to you.

Sucess & Failure

No man is worthy to succeed until he is willing to fail.

No man is morally worthy of success in religious activities until he is willing that the honor of succeeding should go to another if God so wills.

-- A. W. Tozer

(And isn't it that no man is worth of religious success until he is willing that the credit for that success should go to God?)

Effective Preaching

When it comes to preaching, the persuasive power is in the story - not in the preacher. So preacher, whose story are you telling?

Divisive Differences

God calls us to live in unity with one another, at peace with one another, overcoming our differences. There is a difference between opposing views and being divisive. No group of people will agree on everything. Our human-ness is just to diverse. but we can work together harmoniously if we agree on what truly matters - God's truth.

I find that the key to overcoming the differences is not to focus on them. Instead, choosing to focus on points of agreement seems to pave the way to overcoming our differences. I can always find reasons to disagree with you. And if I focus on those reasons, we can be truly divided. It may require a little more effort to find reasons to agree with you, but if I'm willing to put forth that effort, that is where we can find unity with each other.

God's Grace

Grace is God's free gift of salvation given to us in Christ. Receiving it brings us peace. True peace of heart and mind is then available to us through faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone without that peace is also without that grace - since the two are tightly connected.

Knowing God

The more we know about what God has done in the past, the more we will comprehend the true nature and character of God. The more we know God's nature and character, the easier it is to have confidence in Him and to trust in His ways.

There was a time when I thought the key to having confidence in God and trusting in His ways would be to understand Him. It turns out I was very wrong about that. The secret to being able to put my faith in God then is simply to focus on His nature and character.

Sincere Love

Sincere love requires concentration and effort. It's not just a feeling. It if is "easy to love" someone - you may be missing the mark! Sincere love means that you sacrifice to help others become better people, to help them overcome the challenges that keep them from living as God created them to live. This demands all our time, our convenience, our money - and definitely our personal involvement. (Writing a check is not sincere love.)

So when you find yourself thinking that you love someone, ask yourself how you are enhancing their life and what that is costing you. That is where you'll find the measure of your true love for them.

Self Esteem

Healthy self esteem is of course very important. But an inflated sense of self is deadly. The key to an honest and accurate self-evaluation is in knowing the basis of our self worth - our identity in Christ. Knowing who I am in Christ is sufficient to maintain a healthy self esteem, without becoming proud or arrogant.

If I try to base my self worth on anything else though, I am most likely going to end up with a perverted sense of self - and either live in self condemnation or live in denial. Either way, it's a deadly game. So it would seem that being grounded in how Christ defined me on the cross is the most important thing I can do to maintain a healthy sense of self.

Now here is a big irony about self esteem: People who are genuinely focused on others instead of just themselves rarely suffer from low self esteem. So it seems the death of selfishness and self centeredness brings life to self esteem.

Spiritual Blindness

Some people, who are quite religious, are spiritually blind. Others, who have never been in church, are often more receptive - and responsive to God's messages. So does religion have the potential to blind us and deafen us to God's voice?

The only way to earn salvation is to be perfect and without sin - which of course is impossible for human beings. So it would seem that the most religious people would be looking - and listening much more intently than they do.

Sin's Discrepancy

Sin is really just a discrepancy between who we are and who God created us to be (in His image). So it would seem that our job in life is to reconcile the discrepancy.

Being "born again" only takes a moment of faith. But becoming Christ-like is a life-long reconciliation process that we engage in. The Holy Spirit leads and assists us in this life-long process (if we let Him). It's called sanctification, and it begins with that moment of faith.

Life's Reflection

If we claim to be God's people - then our lives should reflect what God is truly like. If they don't make such a reflection, then perhaps we are wrong about being God's people!

God's Patience

Most of us, if we're honest, are more likely to be amazed at God's patience with others (who sin) than we are humbled at His patience with us (in our sin).

Is God's patience with others really more remarkable than His patience with me? Or am I just more impressed with the sin of others than I am with my own?

Idolotry

Most idolaters are not aware of their idolatry. They may be sincere - but they are sincerely wrong. The truth is that our modern day idolatry actually starts with our rejection of God and His ways. And the fact is that most of us drift into that state of thinking without even realizing it. So it would seem that idolatry is a sneaky thief, who overtakes us in underhanded ways.

You see, the common denominator for all idolaters is that they worship things that God has made instead of worshipping the Creator Himself. And when people worship the created instead of the Creator, we lose sight of our own identity - as spiritual beings made in God's own image.

Wisdom Defined

Wisdom is both the ability to discern what is right or best - and it is the strength of character to act upon that knowledge - using the right criteria for each decision that's made. Wisdom is only effective when it is put into action (with strength of character). So without character, wisdom is useless.

God Revealed

Nature shows us a God of might, intelligence and intricate detail; a God of order and beauty; a God who controls mighty power. This is a general revelation of God. Through special revelation of God though (the Bible, the birth of Jesus, etc.) we learn about God's love and forgiveness and the promise of eternal life. These are the revelations of God that are led - and enabled by the Holy Spirit. Nature could never reveal these things to us on its own.

Role of Missionaries

Most of us know about missionaries. We may even support some of them. But what do missionaries do? What is their purpose? If our church sends them out, or God just calls them, what mission are they on?

It seems to me that a missionary has to accomplish some specific things:

1. Sensitively expose sin and point people toward Christ.
2. Help persuade people about the Gospel and help them understand the consequences of their choices.
3. Help the church obey the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-24).
4. Teach people how to effectively relate to God (and not just know of Him).

So when I financially support a missionary or pray for them or serve and support them otherwise, I need to have these objectives in mind. They represent the body of Christ (of which I am part) - engaged in these specific objectives.

Moral Government

It has been said that the moral test of government is how it treats ...

... those who are in the dawn of life (children),
... those who are in the twilight of life (elderly),
... those who are in the shadows of life (sick, poor, handicapped).

- Hubert Humphrey

Moral Behavior

People's moral standards are always better than their actual behavior. But doesn't that begin to challenge the definition of a moral standard? Or does it just expose a crack in human nature?

God's Transformation

God wants to remove the sin and restore the sinner - and He is fully able to accomplish that in me. However, that only happens if I don't stubbornly distort or reject the absolute truth that He reveals in me and to me. Absolute truth, it seems, is what challenges me most.

Impacting Others

To have an impact on people's lives, you must first love and believe in them. It has been said that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. But this isn't just a religious rehetoric. It's a fact of human nature. Grace precedes transformation in all human beings, in any setting.

Practical Christianity

The Christian life has practical implications that will affect how we choose to behave every day. It is not enough to know the gospel; we must allow it to transform our thinking and our lives. We must let God impact every aspect of who we are and how we live. I wonder how many Christians have.

Having Friends

You will gather other around you - having many friends - only by giving yourself away to them. Who are you giving yourself to today? How are you giving yourself to them?