“If we intend to reform affairs which are in a state of disorder, we must always exercise such prudence and moderation, as will convince the people, that we do not oppose the eternal Word of God, or introduce any novelty that is contrary to Scripture. We must take care, that no suspicion of such contrariety shall injure the faith of the godly, and that rash men shall not be emboldened by a pretense of novelty. In short, we must endeavor to oppose a profane contempt of the Word of God, and to prevent religion from being despised by the ignorant.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Harmony of the Gospels, addressing Matthew 5:17)
1. Calvin warns teachers to be prudent in their attempts at reforming doctrine, reminding them that without careful attention, in the zeal of their enthusiasm they might end up going against Scripture. In other words, in a nobel attempt to address wrong emphases we must be careful not to create additional error.
2. Teachers must be so clear about what they are teaching that they do not raise any suspicion of established truth that might “injure the faith of the godly.” It is wrong, and cruel, to create doubts about Scripture’s truth in the hearts of earnest believers.
3. “Novel” teachers must also be careful not to embolden “rash men” who will eagerly embrace novelty and cause further harm. Certain people will rush to new sounding doctrine and they will typically exercise even less caution than the original teacher.
4. Teachers should further be careful not to teach anything that creates contempt for God’s Word, or that would lead the unbelieving to question the clarity and truth of God’s Word. If what we say seems to make the Bible seem less clear and less authoritative, we are doing tremendous harm.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
What are you willing to do to sustain the privilege of prayer?
Next month, I’ll line up with about 20,000 other people to run the Boston Marathon. It’ll be my third time there, and since you have to qualify each year, slower runners like me have to work hard to maintain the privilege of running there—watching my weight, keeping fit, and completing another marathon under the time limit for my age. It’s hard work, but to me, spending that weekend in Boston is more than worth the effort. It’s a privilege I cherish and am willing to sacrifice for.
On numerous Sundays, I get an even higher privilege: I’m invited into the pulpit of Second Baptist Church in Houston, a community with over 20,000 weekly attendees. Certain things are expected of me to maintain that privilege: my sermons better be prepared. The people here know their Bibles, and if I just throw something together, I’ll lose them. I’m also expected by the executive staff to maintain a certain integrity in my lifestyle.
But by far the greatest privilege of my life is to approach God in prayer. We often talk of prayer as an “obligation,” a “duty,” a spiritual “discipline,” but in reality it is a breathtaking opportunity. That we could speak to the God of the universe—that we dare even enter his presence; that we might ask him to consider our pleas, and that we might receive marching orders from him—well, the fact that he even knows who we are, much less has something for us to do, is unimaginable apart from his mercy and grace.
The doorway to prayer, of course, was opened through the reconciling work of Christ to which we added nothing. But sustaining the privilege of prayer, though always grounded in grace, does require a certain maintenance on our part. This is not adding to the finished work of Christ, but rather accepting Scripture’s teaching that there are certain things that disrupt our awareness of God’s presence and voice in prayer, and we’d be wise to pay heed to them if we want to sustain the privilege of prayer.
The “Work” of a Christian
The notion that grace precludes effort is a cancer in the church, a false understanding of the crucial distinction between justification and sanctification. The spiritual life and ministry both take enormous, persistent, and diligent human effort.
Consider Paul’s attitude: “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should stake such a view of things.” (Phil. 3:13-15)
Notice the phrase, “all of us who are mature should…” Paul isn’t showcasing his piety here, or nominating himself for a Christian of the Year award; he’s laying down a standard to which every believer should aspire. According to his inspired words, a mature Christian will “strain toward what is ahead...”
Commentator Jac Muller writes, “The verb used here is very descriptive, and calls to mind the attitude of a runner on the course, who with body bent forward, hand stretched to the fore, and eye fixed on the goal, strains forward with the utmost exertion in pursuit of his purpose.”
The great (Reformed, by the way) Puritan Jonathan Edwards was as blunt as a man could be about this: “We are nothing if we are not in earnest about our faith, and if our wills and inclinations are not intensely exercised. The religious life contains things too great for us to be lukewarm.”
He takes it one step further when he adds, “If there is a fight to be fought, or a race to be won, then it must be done with utmost earnestness. Without this there is no way of traveling the narrow road that leads to life. Sloth is therefore as damning as open rebellion.”
I mention this because many will say “sustaining the privilege of prayer” sounds like works righteousness. Maybe it might even lead to legalism. This misunderstanding will keep us immature and unfruitful.
Can we value work as Paul, the champion of salvation by grace through faith, did? I love his comments in 2 Timothy 2:6, when he tells his young protégé to “reflect” on the fact that it’s the “hardworking farmer” who gets the first share of the crops. (2 Tim. 2:6) This is such a brilliant metaphor that it’s particularly sad I’ve never heard a pastor preach on it. Much of a farmer’s work—unlike, say, that of an athlete, solider, or politician—is done behind the scenes, without any glory, applause or excitement. Ancient farming, particularly in the days before mechanized harvesting, was grueling work based largely on perseverance and consistent effort. That’s the metaphor Paul uses to describe the hard, often anonymous work of a Christian as he or she pursues God and is used by God.
The renowned John Stott warns, “This notion that Christian service is hard work is so unpopular in some happy-go-lucky Christian circles today that I feel the need to underline it…It may be healthy for us to see what strong exertion [Paul] believed to be necessary in Christian service.”
Indeed, as Stott points out, Paul gloried in the fact that “I worked harder than any of them,” explicitly referencing his hard work in 2 Corinthians 6:5, 1 Corinthians 15:10, and Philippians 2:16. Paul always ties his labor to God’s energy and provision, but never in a way that God’s provision puts Paul to sleep and certainly not as an invitation to a life of neglect.
Ministry and an intimate prayer life are a lot like farming. Much of the work that produces fruit passes unseen. No one on earth is applauding or even recognizing our efforts. But the life it creates can be used by God to bless and serve many. The “planting” is grueling; the harvest can be great.
Just a few verses later in 2 Timothy, Paul tells Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed...” (2 Tim. 2:15)
In the next post, we’ll talk about how we work at sustaining a prayer life; since work is such a suspicious element of today’s Christian spirituality, I believed I needed to first support my contention that a productive prayer life doesn’t just happen by “letting go and letting God.”
Again this might sound like a provocative statement, but I believe the biblical record is clear: sustaining a rich spiritual life of devotion and service requires persistent, diligent and even enormous effort.
On numerous Sundays, I get an even higher privilege: I’m invited into the pulpit of Second Baptist Church in Houston, a community with over 20,000 weekly attendees. Certain things are expected of me to maintain that privilege: my sermons better be prepared. The people here know their Bibles, and if I just throw something together, I’ll lose them. I’m also expected by the executive staff to maintain a certain integrity in my lifestyle.
But by far the greatest privilege of my life is to approach God in prayer. We often talk of prayer as an “obligation,” a “duty,” a spiritual “discipline,” but in reality it is a breathtaking opportunity. That we could speak to the God of the universe—that we dare even enter his presence; that we might ask him to consider our pleas, and that we might receive marching orders from him—well, the fact that he even knows who we are, much less has something for us to do, is unimaginable apart from his mercy and grace.
The doorway to prayer, of course, was opened through the reconciling work of Christ to which we added nothing. But sustaining the privilege of prayer, though always grounded in grace, does require a certain maintenance on our part. This is not adding to the finished work of Christ, but rather accepting Scripture’s teaching that there are certain things that disrupt our awareness of God’s presence and voice in prayer, and we’d be wise to pay heed to them if we want to sustain the privilege of prayer.
The “Work” of a Christian
The notion that grace precludes effort is a cancer in the church, a false understanding of the crucial distinction between justification and sanctification. The spiritual life and ministry both take enormous, persistent, and diligent human effort.
Consider Paul’s attitude: “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should stake such a view of things.” (Phil. 3:13-15)
Notice the phrase, “all of us who are mature should…” Paul isn’t showcasing his piety here, or nominating himself for a Christian of the Year award; he’s laying down a standard to which every believer should aspire. According to his inspired words, a mature Christian will “strain toward what is ahead...”
Commentator Jac Muller writes, “The verb used here is very descriptive, and calls to mind the attitude of a runner on the course, who with body bent forward, hand stretched to the fore, and eye fixed on the goal, strains forward with the utmost exertion in pursuit of his purpose.”
The great (Reformed, by the way) Puritan Jonathan Edwards was as blunt as a man could be about this: “We are nothing if we are not in earnest about our faith, and if our wills and inclinations are not intensely exercised. The religious life contains things too great for us to be lukewarm.”
He takes it one step further when he adds, “If there is a fight to be fought, or a race to be won, then it must be done with utmost earnestness. Without this there is no way of traveling the narrow road that leads to life. Sloth is therefore as damning as open rebellion.”
I mention this because many will say “sustaining the privilege of prayer” sounds like works righteousness. Maybe it might even lead to legalism. This misunderstanding will keep us immature and unfruitful.
Can we value work as Paul, the champion of salvation by grace through faith, did? I love his comments in 2 Timothy 2:6, when he tells his young protégé to “reflect” on the fact that it’s the “hardworking farmer” who gets the first share of the crops. (2 Tim. 2:6) This is such a brilliant metaphor that it’s particularly sad I’ve never heard a pastor preach on it. Much of a farmer’s work—unlike, say, that of an athlete, solider, or politician—is done behind the scenes, without any glory, applause or excitement. Ancient farming, particularly in the days before mechanized harvesting, was grueling work based largely on perseverance and consistent effort. That’s the metaphor Paul uses to describe the hard, often anonymous work of a Christian as he or she pursues God and is used by God.
The renowned John Stott warns, “This notion that Christian service is hard work is so unpopular in some happy-go-lucky Christian circles today that I feel the need to underline it…It may be healthy for us to see what strong exertion [Paul] believed to be necessary in Christian service.”
Indeed, as Stott points out, Paul gloried in the fact that “I worked harder than any of them,” explicitly referencing his hard work in 2 Corinthians 6:5, 1 Corinthians 15:10, and Philippians 2:16. Paul always ties his labor to God’s energy and provision, but never in a way that God’s provision puts Paul to sleep and certainly not as an invitation to a life of neglect.
Ministry and an intimate prayer life are a lot like farming. Much of the work that produces fruit passes unseen. No one on earth is applauding or even recognizing our efforts. But the life it creates can be used by God to bless and serve many. The “planting” is grueling; the harvest can be great.
Just a few verses later in 2 Timothy, Paul tells Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed...” (2 Tim. 2:15)
In the next post, we’ll talk about how we work at sustaining a prayer life; since work is such a suspicious element of today’s Christian spirituality, I believed I needed to first support my contention that a productive prayer life doesn’t just happen by “letting go and letting God.”
Again this might sound like a provocative statement, but I believe the biblical record is clear: sustaining a rich spiritual life of devotion and service requires persistent, diligent and even enormous effort.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Reinvigorate your faith journey -
Thirsting for God sheds light on refreshing perspectives about prayer, hope, purpose, and the thirst for God and His love.
Along with Gary's personal journey the reader will delve into classic Christian writings from John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Thomas a Kempis and others.
Encounter a fulfilling, transforming relationship with God while finding companionship and the mentor-ship of great words, minds and hearts.
Find more information at www.harvesthousepublishers.com.
Monday, February 28, 2011
"The Most Essential of All Spiritual Disciplines"
“David is dead,” my wife said. “His parents want you to speak at the funeral. They’re burying him tomorrow.”
I had spent the day taking my kids to a local fair. We had been riding kiddie roller coasters, braving gravity-busting wheels, and digesting cotton candy. It was late at night by the time we got home, and the funeral—a three hour drive away—was scheduled to take place in about thirteen hours. It was difficult, as you might imagine, to shift gears so suddenly.
The funeral was a particularly sad one, in that David died young and in prison. He poked heroin into his veins once too often, and on a particularly fateful occasion, the HIV virus was clinging to the needle.
I struggled through the service, but was helped by the classic Christian writers who have taught me that even tragic deaths can teach us valuable truths—negatively, if not positively. In fact, these writers urge us to use death by extracting the message out of each one, thereby making death our servant.
The great seventh century Eastern Orthodox writer John Climacus called the remembrance of death the “most essential of all works” and the most helpful of all spiritual disciplines. John of the Cross, a medieval writer who coined the now famous phrase “Dark Night of the Soul” was fond of drawing pictures of skulls and literally ate his soup out of a plugged skull to remind himself that death was imminent.
More importantly, Scripture itself teaches us to keep the reality of death in mind: “Death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2b NIV).
The Passion Filter
Among other things, the ancients saw the remembrance of death as a filter for our passions. Pascal wrote, “To render passion harmless let us behave as though we had only a week to live.” Notice the practical element in Pascal’s teaching: remember death to take the heat out of sinful passions.
Climacus joined him in this counsel: “You cannot pass a day devoutly unless you think of it as your last…The man who lives daily with the thought of death is to be admired, and the man who gives himself to it by the hour is surely a saint.”
Thomas à Kempis argued that the remembrance of death is a powerful force for spiritual growth in general:
"Didst thou oftener think of thy death than of thy living long, there is no question but thou wouldst be more zealous to improve. If also thou didst but consider within thyself the infernal pains in the other world, I believe thou wouldst willingly undergo any labor or sorrow in this world, and not be afraid of the greatest austerity. But because these things enter not to the heart, and we still love those things only that delight us, therefore we remain cold and very dull in religion."
18th century Anglican William Law adds, “Feasts and business and pleasures and enjoyments seem great things to us whilst we think of nothing else; but as soon as we add death to them, they all sink into an equal littleness; and the soul that is separated from the body no more laments the loss of business than the losing of a feast.”
The ancients also portray the remembrance of death as a comfort and as a help to keep our priorities in order. They suggest practical ways that we can incorporate the remembrance of death into our daily spiritual disciplines. For more on this, check out Thirsting for God: Spiritual Refreshment for the Sacred Journey, now available from Harvest House books.
I had spent the day taking my kids to a local fair. We had been riding kiddie roller coasters, braving gravity-busting wheels, and digesting cotton candy. It was late at night by the time we got home, and the funeral—a three hour drive away—was scheduled to take place in about thirteen hours. It was difficult, as you might imagine, to shift gears so suddenly.
The funeral was a particularly sad one, in that David died young and in prison. He poked heroin into his veins once too often, and on a particularly fateful occasion, the HIV virus was clinging to the needle.
I struggled through the service, but was helped by the classic Christian writers who have taught me that even tragic deaths can teach us valuable truths—negatively, if not positively. In fact, these writers urge us to use death by extracting the message out of each one, thereby making death our servant.
The great seventh century Eastern Orthodox writer John Climacus called the remembrance of death the “most essential of all works” and the most helpful of all spiritual disciplines. John of the Cross, a medieval writer who coined the now famous phrase “Dark Night of the Soul” was fond of drawing pictures of skulls and literally ate his soup out of a plugged skull to remind himself that death was imminent.
More importantly, Scripture itself teaches us to keep the reality of death in mind: “Death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2b NIV).
The Passion Filter
Among other things, the ancients saw the remembrance of death as a filter for our passions. Pascal wrote, “To render passion harmless let us behave as though we had only a week to live.” Notice the practical element in Pascal’s teaching: remember death to take the heat out of sinful passions.
Climacus joined him in this counsel: “You cannot pass a day devoutly unless you think of it as your last…The man who lives daily with the thought of death is to be admired, and the man who gives himself to it by the hour is surely a saint.”
Thomas à Kempis argued that the remembrance of death is a powerful force for spiritual growth in general:
"Didst thou oftener think of thy death than of thy living long, there is no question but thou wouldst be more zealous to improve. If also thou didst but consider within thyself the infernal pains in the other world, I believe thou wouldst willingly undergo any labor or sorrow in this world, and not be afraid of the greatest austerity. But because these things enter not to the heart, and we still love those things only that delight us, therefore we remain cold and very dull in religion."
18th century Anglican William Law adds, “Feasts and business and pleasures and enjoyments seem great things to us whilst we think of nothing else; but as soon as we add death to them, they all sink into an equal littleness; and the soul that is separated from the body no more laments the loss of business than the losing of a feast.”
The ancients also portray the remembrance of death as a comfort and as a help to keep our priorities in order. They suggest practical ways that we can incorporate the remembrance of death into our daily spiritual disciplines. For more on this, check out Thirsting for God: Spiritual Refreshment for the Sacred Journey, now available from Harvest House books.
Monday, August 30, 2010
"Sacred Week" in Hong Kong, pt. 1
“It took us 2 ½ years to get Gary here, but we’ve got him.”
With those words, pastor Tobin Miller welcomed Lisa and me to the Island Evangelical Community Church in Hong Kong on Sunday, for the beginning of what they are calling “Sacred Week.”
Lisa and I arrived late Saturday, picked up at the airport by Tobin and his wife Christina. Tobin had told me by email that due to the pressures of working in one of the world’s largest financial centers, Hong Kong families are perhaps “the most dysfunctional families” in the world. “It’s not uncommon when I’m doing a funeral to find out that a businessman had two other families that the first wife didn’t know about. And I’ve had Christian men do the same.”
The long hours at work, the tendency to have domestic help raise the kids, and the large amount of time spent apart all contribute to a sense of marital and family isolation. “I rarely find a single individual who tells me they want the marriage their parents had,” Tobin said.
On the trip from the airport, Tobin shared how, as a pastor who wants to reach Hong Kong, one of his greatest difficulties is that even Christians “use Hong Kong” instead of having a heart for it. “They’re here to make their millions in a few years and then move on. Hong Kong is something they use, not something they feel compelled to reach.”
After a fitful night of sleep, I woke early on Sunday and was the first customer at the Fit Fort Hong Kong Starbucks (doing my part to keep the international economy moving forward). Lisa and I visited the 11:30 service at IECC, and discovered that, apparently, worship songs are known around the world. Out of the six sang, we knew five of them by heart.
After church and lunch with the Millers, Lisa and I took a tram through the streets of Hong Kong, and then walked through Victoria Park. It was crammed with young women and virtually no men. About half of them had head coverings. Most laid out a piece of plastic on the ground, and gathered in groups, laughing and talking and lying around.
What struck both of us was the level of joy in that park. By and large, we were sobered by the somber mood that covers Hong Kong. People rarely acknowledge you, almost never seem to be smiling, and when I asked Tobin about it, he admitted that studies show the “happiness quotient” is about as low in Hong Kong as anywhere in the world. Since happiness has been directly connected to one’s personal relationships, it’s not a surprise that “the most dysfunctional families in the world” produce such somber people.
So why the smiles in Victoria Park?
“Those are the domestic helpers from Indonesia, enjoying their one day off a week.”
Domestic helpers are considered as having it worse than the families who hire them. Because they live with the families they work for, many will never marry, and most send all but their living expenses home to support relatives. Yet the level of joy in that park was off the charts compared to the people who hired them.
On Monday morning, Lisa and I went up above the city, to a trailhead at the top of Braymer Hill Road, where we found an amazing trail with some spectacular views of the city. I ran while Lisa walked, and we met back up about an hour later. The humidity level was high, but the climate felt much more conducive to running than anything I’ve experienced in Houston over the past month.
It has been a long summer, so today is meant to be an unusually slow day, getting ready for the teaching load that runs straight through from Wednesday through Sunday.
I so appreciate the many prayers that have already been offered on our behalf--ultimately, on behalf of the people of Hong Kong. Here's the schedule: (Hong Kong time, by the way, is 12 hours ahead of EST)
Wednesday evening: Sacred Influence (talking to wives)
Thursday evening: Sacred Parenting
Fri-Saturday: Sacred Marriage
Sunday: Pure Pleasure
With those words, pastor Tobin Miller welcomed Lisa and me to the Island Evangelical Community Church in Hong Kong on Sunday, for the beginning of what they are calling “Sacred Week.”
Lisa and I arrived late Saturday, picked up at the airport by Tobin and his wife Christina. Tobin had told me by email that due to the pressures of working in one of the world’s largest financial centers, Hong Kong families are perhaps “the most dysfunctional families” in the world. “It’s not uncommon when I’m doing a funeral to find out that a businessman had two other families that the first wife didn’t know about. And I’ve had Christian men do the same.”
The long hours at work, the tendency to have domestic help raise the kids, and the large amount of time spent apart all contribute to a sense of marital and family isolation. “I rarely find a single individual who tells me they want the marriage their parents had,” Tobin said.
On the trip from the airport, Tobin shared how, as a pastor who wants to reach Hong Kong, one of his greatest difficulties is that even Christians “use Hong Kong” instead of having a heart for it. “They’re here to make their millions in a few years and then move on. Hong Kong is something they use, not something they feel compelled to reach.”
After a fitful night of sleep, I woke early on Sunday and was the first customer at the Fit Fort Hong Kong Starbucks (doing my part to keep the international economy moving forward). Lisa and I visited the 11:30 service at IECC, and discovered that, apparently, worship songs are known around the world. Out of the six sang, we knew five of them by heart.
After church and lunch with the Millers, Lisa and I took a tram through the streets of Hong Kong, and then walked through Victoria Park. It was crammed with young women and virtually no men. About half of them had head coverings. Most laid out a piece of plastic on the ground, and gathered in groups, laughing and talking and lying around.
What struck both of us was the level of joy in that park. By and large, we were sobered by the somber mood that covers Hong Kong. People rarely acknowledge you, almost never seem to be smiling, and when I asked Tobin about it, he admitted that studies show the “happiness quotient” is about as low in Hong Kong as anywhere in the world. Since happiness has been directly connected to one’s personal relationships, it’s not a surprise that “the most dysfunctional families in the world” produce such somber people.
So why the smiles in Victoria Park?
“Those are the domestic helpers from Indonesia, enjoying their one day off a week.”
Domestic helpers are considered as having it worse than the families who hire them. Because they live with the families they work for, many will never marry, and most send all but their living expenses home to support relatives. Yet the level of joy in that park was off the charts compared to the people who hired them.
On Monday morning, Lisa and I went up above the city, to a trailhead at the top of Braymer Hill Road, where we found an amazing trail with some spectacular views of the city. I ran while Lisa walked, and we met back up about an hour later. The humidity level was high, but the climate felt much more conducive to running than anything I’ve experienced in Houston over the past month.
It has been a long summer, so today is meant to be an unusually slow day, getting ready for the teaching load that runs straight through from Wednesday through Sunday.
I so appreciate the many prayers that have already been offered on our behalf--ultimately, on behalf of the people of Hong Kong. Here's the schedule: (Hong Kong time, by the way, is 12 hours ahead of EST)
Wednesday evening: Sacred Influence (talking to wives)
Thursday evening: Sacred Parenting
Fri-Saturday: Sacred Marriage
Sunday: Pure Pleasure
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Joy of Serving with an Inexhaustible God
Ministry for God can be exhausting and frustrating. Ministry with God is one of the most energizing experiences we will ever know. The apostle Paul gives us a glimpse of this distinction when he writes, “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” (Colossians 1:29)
This is good news for pastors who feel like they have run out of sermon ideas; great news for those who are trying to love difficult spouses, children, or parents and who feel like they have run out of love; wonderful news for anyone called to any ministry at all. If we learn to be dependent on, and draw from, God, we never need to fear running out of ideas, love, or energy, for God offers to become an inexhaustible source for all.
Jean-Pierre de Caussade was a French Jesuit spiritual director who lived in the early eighteenth century. He left behind a “late blooming” classic entitled Abandonment to Divine Providence that wasn’t popularly discovered or widely disseminated until long after he died. In it, de Caussade captures dependence on the divine like few other authors I have ever read. Speaking of God he writes:
“Your inexhaustible action is the infinite source of new thoughts, new sufferings, new actions, new patriarchs, new prophets, new apostles, new saints. [We] do not need to copy each other’s lives and writing, but simply live in a perpetual abandonment to your secret operations.”
In other words, while we have much to learn from the great examples of successful parents and ministers, we shouldn’t feel the need to slavishly follow their methods. God, by his own power and inspiration, is raising up “new patriarchs, new prophets, new apostles, new saints.” While we would be foolish not to draw deeply from the wisdom of those who have gone before us, we also need to be careful about talking about the “old times”—even the very recent “old times”—as if they occurred with a different God at the helm or one who has lost his zeal for what is happening today.
De Caussade again: “We hear perpetually of the ‘early centuries’ and ‘the times of the saints.’ What a way to talk! Are not all times the successive effects of the divine activity that pours itself forth on all the instants of time, filling them, sanctifying them, and elevating them all?”
The same God who raised up Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther, John Wesley and Charles Spurgeon, today has raised up Rick Warren, Beth Moore, Ed Young, and Mark Driscoll. The same God raised them all, and He is neither limited nor tired nor running out of creative energy. Just because he has blessed Rick, Beth, Ed and Mark doesn’t mean he is spent, taking a break, or has inspired his “best sermon.” He’s got plenty more where that came from—the inexhaustible well of divine energy, provision, wisdom, love, and gifting.
Let’s rest in God—in whatever ministry we find ourselves in. If we are truly relying on him, we can’t grow weary, we can’t run out of ideas, we can’t be incapable of serving, because no matter how naturally gifted Rick, Beth, Ed or Mark might be, none of them can even approach the creative genius, never-ending mercy, and ever-flowing love of God.
De Caussade counsels, “Had the saints of the first days any other secret than that of becoming moment by moment what the divine action wished to make of them? And will that divine action fail to shed its glory until the end of the world on those who abandon themselves to it without reserve?”
If your church is 50 strong; there’s nothing holding it back from becoming 500 strong. Even if your church is already 25,000 strong, there’s nothing holding it back from becoming 50,000 strong. You might have preached your best stuff, but God has more. You might have already launched the most effective evangelistic methods you’ve ever employed—God has newer and better ones. You might have tried everything you can think of to repair your marriage or reach out to a rebellious child or kick an addiction. God’s not done, He’s not retired and He's not even weary. On the contrary, He is an inexhaustible source, just waiting for dependent souls to tap into his love, wisdom and enabling power.
This is good news for pastors who feel like they have run out of sermon ideas; great news for those who are trying to love difficult spouses, children, or parents and who feel like they have run out of love; wonderful news for anyone called to any ministry at all. If we learn to be dependent on, and draw from, God, we never need to fear running out of ideas, love, or energy, for God offers to become an inexhaustible source for all.
Jean-Pierre de Caussade was a French Jesuit spiritual director who lived in the early eighteenth century. He left behind a “late blooming” classic entitled Abandonment to Divine Providence that wasn’t popularly discovered or widely disseminated until long after he died. In it, de Caussade captures dependence on the divine like few other authors I have ever read. Speaking of God he writes:
“Your inexhaustible action is the infinite source of new thoughts, new sufferings, new actions, new patriarchs, new prophets, new apostles, new saints. [We] do not need to copy each other’s lives and writing, but simply live in a perpetual abandonment to your secret operations.”
In other words, while we have much to learn from the great examples of successful parents and ministers, we shouldn’t feel the need to slavishly follow their methods. God, by his own power and inspiration, is raising up “new patriarchs, new prophets, new apostles, new saints.” While we would be foolish not to draw deeply from the wisdom of those who have gone before us, we also need to be careful about talking about the “old times”—even the very recent “old times”—as if they occurred with a different God at the helm or one who has lost his zeal for what is happening today.
De Caussade again: “We hear perpetually of the ‘early centuries’ and ‘the times of the saints.’ What a way to talk! Are not all times the successive effects of the divine activity that pours itself forth on all the instants of time, filling them, sanctifying them, and elevating them all?”
The same God who raised up Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther, John Wesley and Charles Spurgeon, today has raised up Rick Warren, Beth Moore, Ed Young, and Mark Driscoll. The same God raised them all, and He is neither limited nor tired nor running out of creative energy. Just because he has blessed Rick, Beth, Ed and Mark doesn’t mean he is spent, taking a break, or has inspired his “best sermon.” He’s got plenty more where that came from—the inexhaustible well of divine energy, provision, wisdom, love, and gifting.
Let’s rest in God—in whatever ministry we find ourselves in. If we are truly relying on him, we can’t grow weary, we can’t run out of ideas, we can’t be incapable of serving, because no matter how naturally gifted Rick, Beth, Ed or Mark might be, none of them can even approach the creative genius, never-ending mercy, and ever-flowing love of God.
De Caussade counsels, “Had the saints of the first days any other secret than that of becoming moment by moment what the divine action wished to make of them? And will that divine action fail to shed its glory until the end of the world on those who abandon themselves to it without reserve?”
If your church is 50 strong; there’s nothing holding it back from becoming 500 strong. Even if your church is already 25,000 strong, there’s nothing holding it back from becoming 50,000 strong. You might have preached your best stuff, but God has more. You might have already launched the most effective evangelistic methods you’ve ever employed—God has newer and better ones. You might have tried everything you can think of to repair your marriage or reach out to a rebellious child or kick an addiction. God’s not done, He’s not retired and He's not even weary. On the contrary, He is an inexhaustible source, just waiting for dependent souls to tap into his love, wisdom and enabling power.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Wives Who Need Extra Prayer
In the decade since I’ve written Sacred Marriage, numerous wives have made me increasingly sensitive to several situations that make marriage even more difficult than it already is—long-term unemployment, serious illness, addictions, mental illness, and the like. I’d like to use this blog post to request prayers for two groups of wives in particular who deserve extra prayer: military wives, and minority wives. Would you please consider adding them to your prayer list, and if you have influence at your church, consider creative ways to support them (and perhaps post some of those ways in the comments section)?
Military Wives
The special pressures military families face are enormous—keeping intimacy alive during long stretches of deployment; young men remaining sexually pure when they are away from their wives for months at a time; the frequent trauma soldiers suffer on the battlefield and the resulting psychological hurdles they face when they return; the complete upending of “normal routine” when dad leaves home, and when dad comes home. (Of course, many of these issues are equally true when it’s the wife who is on deployment.) I met a military wife two weekends ago who, with tears in her eyes, thanked me for Sacred Marriage, telling me it helped save her marriage, and then expressing, with great sadness, that almost all of their military friends are now divorced. I looked at the baby in her arms, and the little boy standing by her side, and was deeply moved at her desire and determination to hold her family together, in spite of the odds against them. Our soldiers serve our country at great personal cost, far beyond the battlefield. Let’s keep praying for them.
Minority Wives
I recently received an encouraging but heart-rending email that raised an issue about African American families. Sandra writes: “I am an African-American woman… There are some differences regarding some of the particulars of the issues we face, e.g., most of the Black women I know are all working wives and mothers and we do not have the luxury of being stay-at-home moms, etc. We deal with hubbies who come home facing racism and we ourselves face that in addition to all our other problems. Will you pray for me and other Black women who want to live godly lives but who feel marginalized and feel that life just ‘isn’t fair’ because of the additional cultural issues we face along with our marital issues?”
Let’s all pray for these groups. Even more, let’s try to serve them. For military families, I’ve given away two copies of Devotions for Sacred Marriage so that spouses who are separated can read through the same book during a deployment and have something to talk about when they touch base on the phone or through Skype. If you have the resources, consider buying two copies of this book for military couples that you know, and write in the front that you’ll be praying for them as they face their unique family challenges as they serve our country. If you know of a couple that could use these books, but you can’t afford to provide them, please let me know; Lisa and I will do what we can.
For minority wives—can I encourage the white suburban, stay-at-home moms to get to know their black sisters in Christ and begin praying for them? Not only can whites learn a lot from their black sisters, but perhaps you can also help support them in practical ways. The shared experience of being married can fuel an active friendship. And seeing how someone is directly affected by society’s prejudice as well as present and past injustices is helpful for all of us to “bear one another’s burdens.” One of the gifts you might give these wives would be Sacred Influence—that’s the book Sandra was referencing when she reached out to me.
There’s another side to all of this: getting involved in praying for others’ marriages and trials is one of the best things you can do for your own marriage. Praying for someone who has it just as difficult as you do, or perhaps is on an even more difficult road, puts our own struggles into perspective. When we start caring for the relationships of others, God often gives us a renewed heart and affection for our own relationship, making this is a win-win request.
Military Wives
The special pressures military families face are enormous—keeping intimacy alive during long stretches of deployment; young men remaining sexually pure when they are away from their wives for months at a time; the frequent trauma soldiers suffer on the battlefield and the resulting psychological hurdles they face when they return; the complete upending of “normal routine” when dad leaves home, and when dad comes home. (Of course, many of these issues are equally true when it’s the wife who is on deployment.) I met a military wife two weekends ago who, with tears in her eyes, thanked me for Sacred Marriage, telling me it helped save her marriage, and then expressing, with great sadness, that almost all of their military friends are now divorced. I looked at the baby in her arms, and the little boy standing by her side, and was deeply moved at her desire and determination to hold her family together, in spite of the odds against them. Our soldiers serve our country at great personal cost, far beyond the battlefield. Let’s keep praying for them.
Minority Wives
I recently received an encouraging but heart-rending email that raised an issue about African American families. Sandra writes: “I am an African-American woman… There are some differences regarding some of the particulars of the issues we face, e.g., most of the Black women I know are all working wives and mothers and we do not have the luxury of being stay-at-home moms, etc. We deal with hubbies who come home facing racism and we ourselves face that in addition to all our other problems. Will you pray for me and other Black women who want to live godly lives but who feel marginalized and feel that life just ‘isn’t fair’ because of the additional cultural issues we face along with our marital issues?”
Let’s all pray for these groups. Even more, let’s try to serve them. For military families, I’ve given away two copies of Devotions for Sacred Marriage so that spouses who are separated can read through the same book during a deployment and have something to talk about when they touch base on the phone or through Skype. If you have the resources, consider buying two copies of this book for military couples that you know, and write in the front that you’ll be praying for them as they face their unique family challenges as they serve our country. If you know of a couple that could use these books, but you can’t afford to provide them, please let me know; Lisa and I will do what we can.
For minority wives—can I encourage the white suburban, stay-at-home moms to get to know their black sisters in Christ and begin praying for them? Not only can whites learn a lot from their black sisters, but perhaps you can also help support them in practical ways. The shared experience of being married can fuel an active friendship. And seeing how someone is directly affected by society’s prejudice as well as present and past injustices is helpful for all of us to “bear one another’s burdens.” One of the gifts you might give these wives would be Sacred Influence—that’s the book Sandra was referencing when she reached out to me.
There’s another side to all of this: getting involved in praying for others’ marriages and trials is one of the best things you can do for your own marriage. Praying for someone who has it just as difficult as you do, or perhaps is on an even more difficult road, puts our own struggles into perspective. When we start caring for the relationships of others, God often gives us a renewed heart and affection for our own relationship, making this is a win-win request.
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