"My Prayerlessness Proves My Arrogance"

Continuing on with some of the ideas I introduced in “Back to the Basics,” I want to quickly remind you of something about which God is really working in my heart.  My reading this morning had me in Mark 4, but since I was a couple days behind I read chapters 1-4.  In Mark 1:35 we read this:

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

Nothing new right?  You have definitely read this before here in Mark or in other places in the Gospels giving us an insight into Jesus’ prayer life.  Well, this morning I realized something that I had never seen in these references, or at least had never really pondered this truth.  Jesus, who was God in human flesh, wakes up extra early so that he can pray!  Now the immediate question in my head is “Why?”  I mean really, why does Jesus need to pray?  He IS God.  Last week I read the passage in Matthew where Simon (Peter) cuts off the ear of a man coming to arrest Jesus.  Jesus responds saying “Don’t you know I could have ten legions of angels come to my rescue with just a word (Scott Paraphrase Version…pick one up at your local Heretical Book Store).”  So we know that Jesus was not powerless in His earthly body, actually just the opposite.  He IS God! 

I think the reason that this struck me so strangely is because of a misunderstanding of what prayer is all about.  So as I asked why Jesus prayed, I got this answer: because He wanted desperately to be with His Father.  I highly doubt this was a prayer time asking God for things or people, but a child worshiping His Father because of His love for Him.  OF COURSE Jesus wakes up early and prays; He loves His Father and deeply desires to spend time with Him.

As I think more about it, I believe that Jesus was aligning Himself with the will of the Father during this time as well.  Now remember, this is Jesus were talking about – our perfect, all-powerful Savior and Lord.  Even He needed to get alone with God to align Himself with God’s will for Him on earth.

So although we can learn practical things from Jesus’ prayer life such as early morning prayer and getting alone while we talk to God, I want to go to the reasoning behind Jesus praying.  Jesus wanted to be with God.  He had all that He needed (seemingly, as God in the flesh) here on earth, yet he still prayed.  Maybe He was modeling for us how and when we should pray, but I think that Jesus or the text would more overtly indicate such intentions.  Though I do think that we can and should model our prayer life after Jesus’, that is not what I saw this morning.  What I saw was an earnest desire to commune with the God of the Universe, even though He IS the God of the Universe!  Jesus still knew that He needed to be in step with the Father.

How much more do I need to pray?  How much more do I need to hear from God?  I AM not God in the flesh, but rather am a human who has a wicked heart that doesn’t naturally pursue the Father.  Therefore not only do I need to pray to KNOW God, I also DESPERATELY need Him to work in my life.  I know that God can do things so much bigger than me!  I know that God can do things so much better than me!  I know that the only way anything that I ever do will amount to anything of eternal significance unless God steps in!  But I don’t pray.  How does this make sense?  It doesn’t – not at all!  If I truly believed that I would pray.  So my prayerlessness proves my arrogance. By not praying, I affirm that I do in fact believe that I can do life without God.

So this is what I want you to ask yourself…

Do we believe that God can do better than us?

Do we believe that God is sovereign over our lives, our families, our friends?

Then why are we not praying?

Maybe you are a man or woman of prayer.  In that case, thank you!  Please continue to seek God’s face daily, and pray for those of us who struggle deeply with the practicalities of prayer.  May God give us the grace to seek Him hard on our knees.

Scott

Back to the Basics

This is going to be a “shout-out” of sorts to a ministry of which I am thoroughly impressed, but more importantly, I hope, a challenge for all of us to return “back to the basics.”

Because God has given me the wonderful privilege of interning with Daniel Henderson this year (check out his ministry at http://strategicrenewal.com/), I have been introduced to something called the “6:4 Fellowship.”  This organization, based on Acts 6:4, is made up of pastors all across the world who believe that returning to the basics of true pastoral ministry, prayer and the ministry of the word, is paramount in our generation.  So there is my shout-out! Check them out; I think it will be intriguing to you.

Today, however, I was working in a conference as a part of my internship with Daniel and was reminded and again challenged by the focus of this organization.  Look at Acts 6 and familiarize yourself with the context of the story.  In VERY general terms, there arose some issues concerning widows who were not being equally ministered to.  The 12 apostles gathered together and said,

           

            “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.  Therefore brothers pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to PRAYER AND THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD.”

You see, the apostles knew that their responsibility was to preach the Word and to intercede on behalf of their “flock.”  This issue that came up would have taken much time away from their prayer and study of the Scriptures, so they could not allow this to happen.  The goal of 6:4 Fellowship is to call pastors, challenge pastors to prioritize their ministry, not letting anything get in the way of the most important, yet basic necessities.

However, the second goal of 6:4 (this is my understanding of it at least) is to call pastors and their churches away from “program-driven” ministry back to the basics of Scripture.  We all would say that American churches need to see revival, but this is NOT going to come as a result of larger scale, better programs!  It is going to come about as a result of you and me falling on our faces before the God of the Universe begging Him to have mercy on us and save us from US.

Three things and then I am done…

1.  If you are a pastor, what is consuming your time?  Are you so involved in other ministry-related activities that Prayer and the Word have fallen by the wayside?  I fear that very few pastors are daily on their knees pleading with God for the people in their church.  As Matt Frye of C3 church in North Carolina said today, “I had become more of a weekend communicator than a pastor or shepherd…God had to wake me up.”  Is your sermon something that you present on Sunday as a result of study done during the week, or is it something that God has burned deeply within your heart?  I beg you to return to your knees and hear from God.  Check out 6:4 Fellowship to hear from other pastors who are returning to their God-given responsibilities as well http://www.64fellowship.com/.

2. If we go back to the text, we see how the apostles were able to dedicate themselves to prayer and the word – delegation.  Now I am terrible at delegation, but this is what I am learning, and more of what I learned today.  The apostles raised up 7 godly men who could perform these duties and enable the apostles to dedicate their time to the basics.  But more than just delegation, they raised up men from among them and gave them a mission.  Matt Frye, who I mentioned earlier, spoke about raising up a “men’s movement” in his church.  We need men to step up in the church, to put on their "big boy pants", but this is a topic for another day (though fascinating).  Pastors need to invest themselves in a few godly men who can carry out these necessities.  We need to call our men to a higher standard of leadership, responsibility, and action in the church like the apostles did. ( I want to develop this more fully, but I’m sure you are already getting tired of my wordiness).

3.  Lastly, I want to speak to those of you who are not pastors.  You thought you were going to get out of this one didn’t you? Nope, I have something for you too, or better yet the Word has something for you.  I think even though the Apostles are the ones who commit themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word, we need to ask ourselves this question: how am I doing in the basics?  Yes, a pastor has a whole “flock” to care for, and your responsibility does not directly require you to teach the Word, but these are quintessential in our pursuit of Christ.  So how are you doing?  Be honest! I’m not being the least bit judgmental because I am struggling here too.  If you say, “I’m doing pretty well,” tell me how?  What do these look like practically for you? I find that when we really evaluate these we end up thinking in our head that we are doing better than we really are in reality.  To be honest, my time in the Word has been pretty solid lately, but my prayer has been lacking to say the least!  We MUST get the basics or we will never intimately know Christ!

I hope this has been insightful, but more importantly I am praying as I write that God will massage this deep into our hearts so that we return to the basics and seek God’s face.  “God wants to start a movement, not a program,” and it starts with me on my knees.

Scott

Ambassador

Jim.

Yesterday afternoon, I participated in Bryan College's annual MLK Community Service Day. During this event, students are sent out in about 50 groups of 2 to 20 people, into various residential and community locations that have specific needs. This year I was a part of a group of 7 students that served at the Spring City Library. We did some indoor painting, as well as cleaning and moving bookshelves.

The most memorable part of this day was my converation with Jim, an older man that served on staff at the library. He was impressed by our groups respect, our willing attitude in service, and our dedication in doing a complete and quality job. He told me that we had given him hope for the future of our nation, and that he believed his generation had "failed to be effective" for America. He told me he wanted students like us to be ambassadors for America, because we had a dedication and a passion that professional politicians lack.

Gospel in Life.

Before I make my point, let me say in way of background information that this "event" occured at an optimal time for me. The past week I had been listening and studying a sermon by Matt Chandler, Senior Pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, Texas, entitled "Service." I've spent the past month in thought and study, trying to gain a deeper realization of the Gospel, as well as an appropriate reaction in how I live my life. This study, as well as my daily reading in Matthew's Gospel, very quickly brought me to the idea of service.

"But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Matthew 20:26-28

Here we find Jesus' self-proclaimed purpose for the incarnation. While He ultimately came to defeat sin through his perfect life and death, Jesus also came to do His father's will in service to mankind. The very Gospel is founded on an attitude of complete submission and self-sacrificing service. God humbled Himself and became a servant, obedient even unto death. And how should we respond? By becoming great in God's sight. This greatness comes not from superior strength or skill, high position or security, or success. It isn't merely an action, but a complete life-focus!! How often do we look for the closest parking spot, the best seat, the cleanest table, the shortest line, or the biggest sale? Sure these are small and insignificant actions, but they reflect an attitude that is constantly pleasing self and claiming entitlement.

The Point.

Here's my point. Jim saw the importance of representatives and ambassadors that put their country ahead of their paycheck, and their passion ahead of their image. As partakers and participants in a Gospel characterized by sacrifice, let us put away our priority of image, dignity, and pleasure. If we truly grasp the power of the Gospel, we will follow Christ's example in selfless service, truly treating others better than ourselves. As Christians, we are Christ's ambassadors (Acts 1:8), "having the same mind (Philippians 2:5-7)" which was in Christ! We must be nothing, for He is everything.

Brian

We Cannot Afford to Be Mistaken

This year I have committed to begin to journal, hopefully for the rest of my life.  Already I have seen the power of physically writing down my thoughts as I read my Bible each day.  Although I haven’t written in my journal every day, I already have about 7 or 8 entries for this year.  Some of them are from Genesis and some are from Matthew because I am reading through the Bible in that fashion.  I would highly recommend journaling to anyone who feels that they want to dig deep and really get the most out of their time with the Lord.  The following are some thoughts from my journal after reading a very familiar, heart-wrenching text in Matthew.  Read the text carefully and refer back to it throughout the blog.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"                        

- Matthew 7:21-23

For too long we (at least I) have grazed over this text because it is scary.  We say that we don’t understand it or we try to water down what Jesus is saying.  He says that many people will stand before Him on Judgment Day fully believing that they will be accepted into heaven.  After all, they did call upon the name of the Lord, right? 

And on top of that, they did all kinds of things for the Kingdom! But Jesus says that they will show Him their works, done FOR HIM they claim, yet they will be thrown into hell.

Today I noticed for the first time that these “works” that they claim when they stand before God are not second-rate acts.  We’re not talking about giving extra money to the church, lending their donkey to their neighbor, or praying consistently.  These people have cast out demons and prophesied!  I don’t know about you, but I have never cast out any kind of evil spirit from a person. 

So a person can conform to religious requirements (Lord, Lord) and perform great works, possibly even miraculous works, and still not know Christ.  Though my outward conformity and my good deeds are of great importance because they are proof of a genuine faith (James 2:26), they are just “add-ons” or results so to speak.

Before we go any further let’s allow Jesus’ words to press on us.  Don’t allow yourself to simply read or think about this passage, but let it “read” you.  What is He really saying here? And what questions do I need to ask myself so that I am not one of those who cries out when I stand before God, “But God, didn’t I…” only for Him to say, “Depart from Me. I never knew you.”

First, I can’t base my salvation on a prayer that I said on the way home from vacation when I was 8 years old (v.21) because many will do that and end up in hell.  I base my salvation on Christ’s death and resurrection that paid for my sin and satisfied God’s wrath.  Jesus is the reason I have salvation.  I am trusting in something infinitely larger than the prayer that I said.

My good works are evidences of the new heart I have been given along with my new nature when Christ came into my life.  They cannot earn me salvation, which most evangelicals understand, but they also cannot earn me any kind of favor with God.  My salvation is bound up in Jesus, and Jesus alone.  So when I stand before God the ONLY hope that I have is Jesus’ love-saturated sacrifice on the cross.  Not a prayer. Not any amount of my pitiful works.

This is a much needed message to press me to search myself and remember Jesus and His payment alone that reconciles me to God, but also a much needed message in American Christianity.  Well meaning pastors, evangelists, and parents have reduced the Gospel into some kind of formula that can lead to misunderstandings.  “Pray this after me… and you will be saved” is a commonly heard phrase when speakers are giving an invitation, and though I am not saying that this is inherently wrong, I do believe that leads some to point to a prayer rather than Jesus as their basis for salvation. 

Along with me, please first resolve in your heart that you are putting your hope in Jesus, His sacrifice, and His work in your heart, and not something far smaller and meaningless.  Secondly, as we present the Gospel to non-believers and believers alike, let us center the message on Jesus, Jesus, Jesus and nothing else.

What are we trusting in? 

This is not a question with which we cannot afford to be even slightly mistaken. 


Scott

A Firm Foundation

A Faith Found Lacking

       When I read the The Acts of the Apostles, as well as the accounts of early church historians depicting martyrs and heroes of the Christian faith, I find myself wondering... where did that passion and commitment go? Why are American churches often seem to be filled with those who...

-Attend out of a sense of duty
-Focus on criticizing the errors of other Christians and denominations
-Look for a sense of well-being
-Just want the government to agree with their religion and values?

        Worse still, many teachers, preachers, and motivational speakers realize this, but only look at the surface in their assessment of what needs to change! American Christians are told they're too comfortable, and don't fully appreciate their faith. Indeed we often are, but does the answer really lie in a hostile and oppressive environment? Still others accuse the Church of fighting and arguing within their own members. But will the Church become powerful and motivated by simply "getting along?"

Actually, I'm finding that the source of the Christian faith that characterized the apostles and martyrs was something much deeper than merely a religion, a set of values, or a family history. Their drive, courage, and boldness had a foundation, a truth that their leader Jesus Christ had personally explained to them.

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." -Matthew 7:24-25

A Timeless Concept

        Like all the words of Christ, I believe this illustration given by Jesus Christ in His "Sermon on the Mount" does not become void with time. The concept of a strong and well placed foundation remains a key and primary concept in countless areas of life, especially in the life of the believer in Jesus Christ. Your boldness and confidence in Christ is only as strong as the truth and knowledge it is founded in. For the apostles and early believers, this foundation was The Gospel. No, their foundation was not based upon the contents of four somewhat similar books, neither was it based on a Sunday School lesson in their childhood. The Gospel is not merely the account of Christ's death, but rather the entire divine plan of redemption that God established for the salvation of His people.

Further Discussion and Application

       I'm becoming more convinced every day that the church desperately needs to realize this, that the Gospel is the only firm foundation for our faith. I hope that Scott and I will soon share on specific areas of establishing a full and accurate knowledge and appreciation of the Gospel, touching on subjects such as:

How can we truly experience the Gospel as more than just a story?
-The disciples saw Jesus serve, minister, die, and resurrect in their own lifetime. How do we gain the same motivation for something that occurred so long ago?

What are the implications of the Holy Spirit?
-John 16:7 Jesus left His followers in order that they might have the Holy Spirit. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a confident and committed Christian?

Discovering the Revealed Gospel
- A careful study of the Bible will reveal the Gospel as stretching from Genesis to the New Testament. How is the Gospel revealed in the whole of Scripture, rather than just in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?

Brian

Do We Understand the Gospel?

I have come to the realization that my understanding of the Gospel is perverted, or at least partial.  I will probably be blogging more on this topic, but for now this is something that I wrote a few weeks ago.

I think that there has been a fundamental misunderstanding of the Gospel in Christianity.  Somehow we have made the Christian life into something that I must BE or DO, instead of what Jesus WAS and DID for us.  We ARE righteous because of what Jesus did.  He purchased that righteousness for me.  Therefore, I can't do ANYTHING to GAIN or LOSE God's affection for me.  If I could, then my salvation would be dependent upon how I act.  Texts like 1 John press us to look at the evidences or "fruits" that WILL BE produced by a genuine Christian, and I'm not saying that this is not the case.  What I am saying is that a true believer does not fall in and out of favor with God because of his actions. This is so freeing!! Does that mean that I am sinless? No.  My journey now is to live in practice what I already am positionally – righteous. So the Gospel is focused on what JESUS did to earn God's favor and not what I DO.

What Churches (specifically American) have taught us (my generation) is that "this is what a Christian looks like... they do X, Y, and Z.”  So what do we do?   We conform to X, Y, and Z, but we do it trying to "be the right kind of person so that God will be pleased with us." Constantly failing to live up to these things is a miserable way to live, and we end up running from God in order to “clean ourselves up” so that we can approach Him again.  A mark of maturity as a believer is that we run to God when we sin and fail Him.  Our failures remind us of how loving, forgiving, and gracious God is to us, leading us to worship and fall more in love with Him.  Good deeds come from a heart that is pure and totally in love with Christ.  So conformity is NOT the goal of Christianity, holiness is.  When we begin to understand this, it changes our lives.

If you are a child of God, which means you have been ADOPTED into His family, He loves you more than you can imagine.  Your performance does not change the way He feels about you or your position as His son.  What he has done in adopting you is irrevocable.  God IS NOT mad at you when you sin.  So does this give us permission to sin? NO. (Romans 6)  When that really sinks in, the fact that God's acceptance and affection for you is dependent on Jesus and His death...PERIOD, it will cause us to want to love and obey Him.  The Christian life no longer consists of a bunch of rules and regulations, but an intimate love relationship  

"God, allow this truth to embed itself into our hearts.  Thank you that Jesus and only Jesus is the reason for my acceptance with You, because my heart is wicked and chases after other perversions of the things that you have made. Help me as I understand this truth to no longer go into "performance mode," but to understand the depth of Your love for me, and then to respond in obedience because of that love."

The Beginning

Here we go! Let's try to blog every week or so at least.