“Even not the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt. 3:10).

“So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.  A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:17-20).

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, not are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:43-45).

I love my brother.  He has always been and will always be one of the strongest influences on my spiritual life.  Over the years my relationship with him has gone from just a physical brotherly relationship to a strong spiritual one.  He is currently a part of a church plant in Baltimore, MD truly is someone who sharpens me (Prov. 27:17).

I recently received a series of questions from him in regards to a post I made a few days ago. I thank him for his faithfulness to the Lord and the questions that he did send and I am looking forward to getting together with him to discuss them with him.  It was one of those questions that sparked a question in my mind that I realized I have never really asked.  So, since this is a place to post and receive comments, I thought I would pose the question and see what others thought(going to see if anyone actually reads this thing, haha). So here’s the question…

What makes fruit, fruit? (discuss)

There is a new movement, well not particularily brand new but new none the less, in American Christianity (I say American merely because I do not know if it is anywhere else). This movement hinges on two very specific concepts.  These two concepts are:

1. for people to begin to have conversations with each other, and
2. for the church to understand the culture in which the letters of the Bible take place 

While, I do believe there is some truth to these concepts, I also see some ways that errors are occurring, particularly in the way these concepts are being carried out.  Let me put a plug in that this post is not an attempt to bash any one writer, pastor, or particular group of people but rather a gentle call for us to examine everything and not be carried away by the tickling of the ear. While things often sound good, there is always a need to examine everything. With that said…

1. for people to begin to have conversations with each other

I begin first with the concept of people starting to have conversations with each other.  This has become a sort of phenomenon in our culture lately.  Everyone wants to sit down with a cup of coffee and carry on a converstation (I will admit that I love a good conversation with a cup of coffee in hand). But the concept of having conversations is going to the extreme. When I ask people how things are going in relationship to ministry, I get the answer, “We are having great conversations.” My big concern is this, “What are the conversations about?” I have recently taken notice to just how many of these conversations are going on around me at all kinds of different places (Coffee Houses, Fast Food Restaurants, book stores, etc…).  It seems like everyone has bought into this concept which is in part a good thing but the danger lies in how it is being carried out. 

As I was taking notice of these “conversations” I noticed two things; first that these were taking place largely among those who claim the name of Christian, and second that most of the time there was a new book that had just recently come out (more often than not by a young ambitious writer) rather than the Bible sitting in front each person.  Here is where the error is coming in.  Yes, we should absolutely converse with one another but not over a new book with a eye catching title.  We should be conversing over the Word of God. After all, do we not see that “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:7-11)? And do we not know that it is the Word of the Lord that pierces to the divisions of the spirit and soul (Hebrews 4:12)? Or that eternity hangs in the balance with every conversation that we have because Jesus is THE WAY, and THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6)?  And that it is the scriptures that speak of Him (John 5:39-40)? Are we really going to feed our lives with the thoughts of authors instead of what comes from the mouth of God and thus starve ourselves (Matt. 4:4)?

We need to be careful that our desire to have conversations does not overcome our craving of pure spiritual milk (1 Peter 2:2-3). Conversing about the Word is a wonderful thing, I actually just experienced the joy of this through a wonderful time my wife and I spent together this past week, but we need to be careful of the error to take other books and writings and replace our conversations with them. 

2. for the church to understand the culture in which the letters of the Bible take place 

This next one is a little more subtle in the way that the error finds it’s hold.  First, know that I wholeheartedly believe that the Bible is not only the inspired Word of God but also that the time period it was given was designated by God as well. Therefore, understanding the culture is vitally important and something I seek to do every time I open the Bible and begin to study the wonderful truths that are there.  But where the error comes in is the sources from which we pull our studies. 

For instance, there is a pastor that I have heard of who consults Jewish Scholars to understand the culture surrounding passages in the New Testament.  Now, this is not bad in and of itself but the question I have is this, “Do these Jewish Scholars believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah?” See the Jews are still waiting for their Messiah.  One of the biggest hindrances to the Gospel in the life of a strong jew is that the Messiah has already come and not only that but He died.  This is not the Messiah that they were anticipating.  This is the very thing that Paul calls a stumbling block in 1 Corinthians 1. Therefore, if our understanding of culture surrounding Biblical text, that proclaim Jesus as the Christ, is coming from a Jewish Scholar that does not believe He is the Messiah, can the information we receive be accurate in interpretation of Scripture?  Can they possibly understand why the disciples followed Jesus beyond Him merely being a Rabbi (this is particular to one of the books this pastor has written)? We have to be mindful of the sources we use to understanding of culture.  If we are going to use quoted from those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, how can we claim any validity to their claims? This goes beyond just consulting Jewish Scholar since many of the “new movement” books that are filling our conversations are choosing to quote people who don’t even believe in God the Father.  Why do we want to converse about such things?

so, why write this blog…

Some who read this might be wondering why I chose to write this blog post.  To be honest I wrestled with writing it for quite some time because I know the controversial nature it carries and those dear to me who might even disagree or feel this is an attack directed towards them.  However, I feel the ever present desire to challenge us to examine what we are doing.  We need to be careful of the errors that come in and distract us from what is truly glorious.  We need to always keep the inerrant Word of God closer to our minds and hearts than ANY book written by ANY author.  I judge every book I read by one constant factor which is, “How much is this book saturated with the Word of God?” Because the Word of the Lord truly is more desirable than fine gold and sweeter than pure honey. And in it there truly is great reward.

- one who has found true delight

Monday Mornings

I began my morning as I usually do with the always present monday morning desire to call in sick to work and stay at home with the intention of doing absolutely nothing. But, as with every other morning morning, I waited till the last minute that I could to get out of bed, take a quick shower, and head out to work (usually with no breakfast or coffee). You would think that I would realize that this is not a good way to start a day you don’t want to have but it is none the less, sadly, the way I begin almost every Monday morning.  

I have recently realized the importance of beginning my monday mornings on the right foot.  Some day I hope to be better about the discipline to wake up and spend time at home in the Word before I leave for work but for now I celebrate the gifts of technology we have been graciously given. Through these gifts I can begin my morning properly with a sermon or a book on cd that pushes me to meditate on the Lord, which is how I spent my time in the car today. But, while the book I am currently listening to is a good book, I found myself longing to find a sweet fellowship with the Lord that can only be found through the study of His Word.  When I arrived at work early I was compelled to open the Word and read through the first 6 chapters of Deutoronomy. I want to briefly refer back to a post from last week title “more than a book of instruction” and say again that the Bible needs to be more than a book of instruction.  If I went to the Word this morning for mere instruction I would have not seen the glorious truth that I saw.  I would have been left with instruction without the power to pursue it.  I would have missed the glory of God that is found in chapter 4 of Deuteronomy.

What I was shown

I was swept away this morning by Deuteronomy 4:32-39. Deuteronomy begins as the Isrealites are finally going to enter into the promised land.  In the first 6 chapters Moses is reminding the new generation of Isrealites why the last generation failed to receive the inheritance they are about to receive and warns them not to forget.  He reminds them of how the previous generation did not trust the Lord to give them the promise land and therefore were sent into the wilderness again until they all died off.  Then after they died there was a series of victories the Isrealites had over different nations where the Lord revealed the fact that He holds full power over all nations.  Then, before giving the commandments again, Moses writes a beautiful testimony of the fact that there is no other God except the Lord.  This is verses 32-29:

“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one ened of the heaven to the other, whether such a great things as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by way, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you is was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might discipline you.  And on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. And because He loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with His own presence, by His great power, driving our before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, know therefore today, and lay it to your hear, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”

Moses says to “ask now of the days that are past…since the day that God created man on the earth.” Inquire about all the days from the time of creation and ask…Ask what?  Ask about whether God has ever done something so great for a people than what He has done for you.  Then moses recaps what the Lord has done through questions.  Did any god (notice the fact that he is saying any so called “god”) speak to people in the midst of fire and them live?  Has God ever spoken to someone in this way and they lived to tell about it?  Did any god ever take a nation for himself and do so by such mighty acts? Has this happened for any other people?   Then in 36-38 moses tells them  again that the LORD did this for them.  The LORD spoke directly to them, and brought them out of Egypt, and defeated nations that were far mightier than the Isrealites.  Why? Why did God do this? So it would be shown to them that this God is THE LORD and there is no other.  That they can lay on their hearts that THE LORD is above heaven and earth and there is no other.  What a God we can know from the days past!

But what about today

This all happened to the Isrealites.  We have not heard the voice of the Lord through fire or seen Him perform signs and wonders in this way.  What about today? 

This is my encouragement…”Ask now of the days that are past!” Has there even been any god who became flesh and dwelt among his creation (John 1)? Has there ever been any god who redeemed his people by dying on their behalf (Romans 5:6-8)?  Has any god ever become sin, the very thing that opposes him, when he was completely without sin so that his people would become his righteousness, the very thing that is needed to be in his presence (2 Cor. 5:21)? Has any god ever shed his blood for his people (see the cross of Christ)? Has any god ever given grace without merit (see the first 8 chapters of Romans)? These things have been shown to you that you may know that THE LORD is God! Ask about them, inquire as to whether any god has done this, and see that there is NO OTHER besides THE LORD. Halleluiah, what a Savior! What a wonderful Lord!

- one who is constantly refreshed by the Word

In preparations for an upcoming Sermon I will be delivering at the end of this month, I took a look at a very familiar passage of scripture and it took on a whole new meaning (Matthew 6:19-33). I first ran across this passage while I was reading a book entitled “In Our Joy” and then stumbled across it again while in “Life as a Vapor” (both by John Piper and both good). So, with this text coming up so often in my preparations and new found love for reading, I thought it would be good to dive into it for some personal study and see what I had been missing out on.  Little did I know what I was in for…

I think this is one of the most challenging text for us today in American Christianity.  it is a text that cuts to the heart of what I believe is one of our biggest challenges to living life as a true, bold, and joyful follower of Jesus Christ. It is a strong and clear attack against not only our desire for money but our concern for comfort.  Everyone knows verses 19-21 and 24, and those are what is most commonly focused on in this text, but we fail to see the depth to what Jesus is saying when we leave out verses 22-23 and don’t link this to the following verses in 25-33.  We can easily avoid the bold statements and challenges that are presented if we don’t take a careful look at them. And quite honestly I would not be suprised if we don’t want to see them. 

In verses 19-22 Jesus says not to store up treasures on this earth because they are either stolen or can be destroyed.  I know this very well from personal experience.  My treasure that I stored up on this earth was my musical instruments.  I had a 25th Anniversary Taylor Acoustic guitar and a Fender American Deluxe Telecastor.  Both of which I considered to be my prized possessions. Both of which were worth more than my car.  While I was in a band in college we all lived in a house in Dallas, GA.  Actually, oddly enough it is the current house that my wife and I live in (that is not really significant to this post, just interesting to note). Anyways, while we lived in that house and traveled to play music for a living two dreadfully aweful things happened (aweful at the time and looking back the best things that could have ever happened to me). One day the door to our house was left unlocked and someone came in from the street and stole my Taylor guitar and our playstation (I added in playstation only to show the irony that those were the only two things stolen). Enough with the side notes already back to the story…I was devistated and thought it was the end of the world.  To make it worse prior to this happening we were playing at a church and my Fender was left and never would be found.  I actually remember specifically saying, “at least it wasn’t my Taylor.” Kind of ironic that it ended up being my Taylor.  Two down and none to go. This was tough. I lost my treasure at the time. But through this I learn the truth that is in these verses. Theives can steal your treasure, and things will be destroyed…and it is not even as glorious as the treasure of heaven.

moving on with the scripture…after this we have the two famous verses that everyone is willing to accept as truth but rarely do we realize the breadth of what is being said…”for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (v. 21) and “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (24). There it is plain as day, Jesus is talking about money. Jesus is telling us that if our treasure is in the things of this earth and the fading treasures it has to offer that is where our heart is and worse we cannot serve God if this is the case.  But, while these verses are deep in themselves and say so much, lets not skip two vitally important verses sandwiched in between and fail to see the further challenge found in the verses following.

First, there is the bold statement found in verses 22-23.  Jesus switches from talking about treasure to the eye.  At first this was a very strange transition for me but when I looked at it closer it blew me away.  Let me quote these verses for you, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Now take that in…if the eye is healthy, you will be full of light, but if it is bad, you will be full of darkness.  Paul says that God has shown in the heart of those who are His children “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).  John says that we can’t claim to be in the light if we don’t walk in the Light (1 John 1). Being in the light in scripture constantly relates to those who are saved and being in the darkness to those who are not.  So, what does Jesus mean? What is the healthy eye all about?..

He means this: What is your gave fixed on? What is the single (notice the singular use of eye) devotion of your life?  Is it God or Money?  Do you constantly gaze on the worth and beauty of Christ or are you constantly gazing on money and/or comforts of this world?  Notice what Jesus says, “how great is the darkness!” Chances are, if your gaze and treasure is in this world you are serving money and not God, and therefore you are in the darkness.  Let that sit it for a while…

But Christ is not done with us…He goes on to leave us with no excuses.  This is something I see employed often in the Bible.  It is like the writters anticipate our excuses (I.E. Philippians 2:1-11). Jesus here, leaves us with no room to say, “but you don’t understand, this is what i need.” Take a closer look at verses 25-33.  Notice the word “Therefore” in verse 25.  This means that this is directly connected to what was just said.  Let me summarize what Jesus says here for sake of the length of this post.  Jesus says, “don’t worry about what you will drink, eat or wear.” Those sound like things we need, not necessarily a love for the stuff of this world.  We need food, we need water, we need to be clothed.  But Christ tells us not to worry about these things.  It is like he is anticipating us saying, “You don’t understand how much it costs to live. I have to spend all my life working so I can get clothes and eat and drink enough to live. And I need money to get all this things.” Amazing how relevant this text is.  Christ says not to be anxious about these things.  Don’t worry all the time about them.   Doesn’t God take care of all of creation and are you not more important? God will provide you with what you need!  Don’t make excuses and get trapped by the world in this way. Don’t tell the creator of the universe what you need, He knows! Don’t you see that you have a bad eye if you care more about the comforts of this world than your treasure in heaven (who is Jesus by the way, see Phil. 1:21-23). Even our comforts and what we think we need can be the very treasure of this world we are both serving and storing up. 

Wow! What a challenging text!  Where is your treasure and therefore your heart? What are you storing up and where are you storing it? Which eye do you have? Don’t miss this challenge because it is vitally important (i refer you back to the bold statement of verses 22-23).

- one who pines for a healthy eye

This is in no way an attack against anyone who views the Bible as a book of instructions.  The fact is that the Bible is full of instruction and should be used to base our entire lives off of but it has to be more than just a book of instruction.  The motivation to study and pine after what is in the scriptures has to go beyond just looking for instruction for our daily lives.  If that is the only motivation of our pursuit of the Word then we are merely focusing on our “best life now” and failing to see the ultimate beauty that is found in scripture.  If we treat the scriptures as just a book of instructions we will become so focused on the life we are to live now that we will scarcely be different from the Pharisee’s of Jesus’ day. 

In one encounter Jesus had with the Pharisees after healing a man on the Sabbath He proclaims that in Him is life and says something to the Pharisees that cut to the core of their pursuits.  He says, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me” (John 5:39-40). Basically, you search the scriptures to see what the instructions are and standards are to acheive eternal life but those same scriptures that you search are the ones who bear witness to Me.  The scriptures bear witness to the fact that Christ would come and salvation would only exist through Him.  It is these scriptures that we search and when we search them for mere instructions we will miss the testimony they gve about Christ and ultimately we will miss the joy that is to be found in Christ. 

You will miss the testomony of John that the Word became flesh and the apostles saw the glory as the only Son of God (John 1). Or the testimony of Peter that when you believe in Christ you will “rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1). You will miss the testimony of Paul over and over again that all things were created “through Christ and for Christ” and are “held together by Christ” (Col. 1). As well as we have been shown the “the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ” which is our treasure to share (1 Cor. 4:6-7). You will miss the fact that Christ is the Lion and the Lamb (Rev) and what a beautiful truth that is. You will miss the truth that to depart from this world means to be with Christ which is “far better” (Phil 1).  You will miss the “radiance of the glory of God” in Christ (Hebrews 1) and that the gospel is both “the power of God and wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1). You will miss that the Christ was “wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53)…etc….

You could go on and on.  The Bible is more tha just a book of instruction, it holds glimpses of the majesty of God and it is the testimony of Christ.  Let us search for more than instruction in this life, let us search for Christ and there find infinite joy!

- one who searches for Christ and is continually blown away!

I must admit that I am new to this whole 9-5 working thing.  For the longest time I was either in school, pursuing the life of a musician, or working for myself which all allowed me to have a significant more amount of free time than I have now in my schedule.  Then, it seems like in an instant, I became a new father, new employee, and part time minister.  The time just seemed to vanish.  It felt like one day I didn’t know how to fill my days and the next I couldn’t find time to fit everything in.  This was very difficult for me at first until I realized that I need to find a time to slow down. I needed to make time to slow down.

There is a need for all of us to find a time to slow down. It is easy to get caught up in the busy lives that we lead.  It is even easier to allow the business of life to distract us from what is infinitely valuable, namely Jesus Christ.  This morning as I was driving again to work, I noticed all the cars weaving in and out of traffic frantically trying to get some where. And I thought to myself, ”Why can’t we just slow down? Why are we always in a rush to get somewhere?” No doubt that many of them had their radio’s on, and were probably doing some other type of preparation for their days as they were weaving.  I am not sure how many of them were followers of Christ but the likely hood that those who were spent there time meditating on the grace of Christ is probably next to none.  We are easily distracted.  Why not turn off the radio? Why not wake up a few minutes earlier to make sure there is no rush?  Why not put in a sermon (which you can download with the touch of your finger these days) or the bible on audio (I have a friend who does this)? Why be in such a rush? Trust me I know that the days are long and busy but why not prepare ourselves for it by meeting with the God who supplies all our needs in Christ.

What we miss with the early morning drive is the way the sunlight breaks through the clouds to reveal the beauty of creation. We miss the glistening of the dew on the grass which brings water to the grass and keeps it healthy in order to provide us with oxygen.  We miss this beauty that is found in the morning that shows the greatness of our God!  We will miss the opportunity to see that all of this exists “through Him and for Him” (Col. 1:16) and “in Him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). Wow! So, everything thing that I saw this morning on my way to work is held together by Christ! Nothing is missing and nothing happens without Him. What an amazing God! Isaiah tells us that He knows all the stars by name and none of them go missing. Maybe your business takes place at night and you need to slow down and look at the stars (that is if you can find them is a metropolitan area). This is the grandness of God that we fail to see and appreciate when we don’t slow down. 

So, lets break out bad habits of business and rushing to work, weaving in and out of traffic.  Lets wake up early enough to enjoy the ride to work. Lets slow down at night to appreciate the billions of galaxies that are in the sky. Lets turn our radio’s off for the 30 min to an hour drive and taste and see that the Lord is good.  Lets take the time to slow down. 

- one who needs to be reminded of this daily

I have recently ran across a resource that I think it one that all who seek to proclaim the name if Jesus Christ our Lord to have.  It is a small 43 page book that give a beautiful presentation of the Gospel.  Let me explain why I think this is a resource we all should have. 

I personally and not a big fan of Gospel tracts.  Before I go any further it is necessary to clarify that I know some people enjoy tracts and it gives them the confidence to say something about Christ to a total and complete stranger.  With that said I think there is a lot that is missed in regards to the Gospel with a simple tract.  Tracts are design to catch the eye with colors or other images and give a brief presentation of the gospel.  What tracts lack is the fullness of what has really taken place.  Even the best tracts I have found lack the ability to go into the Scriptures and really explain what need to be done and then how Christ is the one who fulfilled it.  Most of them even lack the truth of the gospel and settle for some fluff that has no weight to it like, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”  Sometimes they may hinge on the fact that we have broken the ten commandments and therefore have sinned against God.  This even falls short.  It does not give the wonderful truth that God sent His Son in the form of a Man, purchased our lives with His blood, removed His wrath from us, and by all this gives us everlasting joy because we now see the glory of God and it is infinitely beautiful (2 Corinthians 4:6). These are all things that tracts lack.  But they also tend to lack a loving tact.  They are often left in random places with no personal touch behind them.  I work at a bank and I kid you not I have received a tract in the night deposit box.  Where is the love in that?  There is none because a tract does not explain that the gospel brings us to God (1 Peter 3:18) and that by being brought to God we find our treasure, we find our joy. 

But there is beauty that can be found in a few more pages.  Pastor John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church has given to the church a glorious resource.  It is a book called “For Your Joy.” It is 43 pages in total length and gives a full presentation of the Gospel and what all it entails and what our response to it should be.  The best part is 1 book cost $1 and you can even get 50 or more of them for $.30 a piece.  So, I challenge you to buy this book and instead of giving someone a tract that show little love and at best scratches the surface of the Gospel, give a book and share the joy that is found in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

- One who is full of Joy!

I had a friend in college who said something to me once that has stuck with me for over 5 years now.  He said that, “if humility is considered the greatest virtue in the Bible then pride is our greatest sin.” This saying has never left my mind and radically changed the way I look at my own heart and life.  I would add then that if humility is what we are constantly called to have (see Philippians 2, James 4, Proverbs, etc.) then the greatest sin we need to constantly keep in check is our pride. 1 John also talks about how the desires of the world are the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.  All aspects that I think find their root in our pride. We all have a tendency towards it and it comes out in many various forms. 

Lately, I have been teaching through the letter of 1 Corinthians written by Paul.  When you read this letter you will be amazed at the sin and filth that is going on in this church.  And what has amazed me is that Paul is still thankful for them.  I have also been captivated by the way Paul addresses their questions and the sin itself.  He doesn’t always direct the attack at the sin but hit hard at the root of it, which is pride.  He doesn’t always call for a logical understanding of the need for greater morality but rather addresses everything by a greater concern being the unity and care of the body of Christ over the freedoms we may or may not have.  This amazes me! It amazes me by the effect this has had on my heart and the heart of my students by addressing these things in this way.  And it has caused me to see the importance of maintaining unity in the body and the necessity of striking at our pride to do this. 

One could easily focus on the countless uses of the words “body” and “bride” by Paul and get an understand that it is important to the apostle but if you look at most of these uses you will notice a strike against the pride of the church.  ! Corinthians is probably the most consistent attack against the pride of a church you will see. Paul lays out that the cause of their divisions is first pride in themselves and the way he urges them to attack this pride is to first consider Christ and then consider the church and the bride before themselves.  Recently, I wrapped up chapter 11, which was talking about social snobbery at the Lords Supper and the call to consider the poor and eat at home rather than defaming the church.  Now I am in study looking at chapter 12 which is the ever controversial chapter on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I will not go into detail about those but if you look at the chapter in relation to the rest of the letter you will see that the call to unity is at heart of the response.  You see this in a few ways. 

First, you see this in verse 7 which he writes that each one is given gifts “for the common good,” that is for the good of the body.  Whatever your beliefs are in relations to gifts in the church today there is one thing that must be at the heart of the use of these gifts and that is that they are for the common good of the body.  In 1 Peter 4:10-11, Peter writes that gifts are for strengthening other’s faith.  Gift must be used for the purpose of strenghthening faith.  Not for our prideful uses. 

Secondly, Paul shows us this by talking about the downfall to both those in the body that don’t feel important and those that feel like others aren’t important.  He draws the churches attention to the fact that God has given all the gifts God desired to give them and they are because the body has many members.  Therefore, you cannot say that you are not usefull and you definitely cannot say that others are not usefull.  It fact he says that even if some seem to be weaker they are given more honor.  Wow!  that is a blow at our pride.  And should be a serious wake up call for all of those who belong to the body of Christ. 

But if it is not clear that this is at the heart of this letter Paul ends chapter 12 leading beautifully into chapter 13 which calls the church to love others by saying, “and I will show you still a more excellent way.”  He is basically saying if this isn’t enough reason to kill your pride i will show you an even bigger and more excellent reason which because we are called to love the church and maintain unity. 

So, how do you maintain unity?  You seek humility!  How do you seek humility?  You strike at your pride! And how do you strike at your pride? You fix your gaze on Jesus Christ and not the world!  You look to the example he gave to us in Philippians 2:6-11.  You memorize this passage and meditate on it.  You dwell on the example Christ gave to us and you live as though you don’t have rights.  This is one of the reasons for the title of this blog and this passage in Philippians is where I found the call to live a life without rights. 

- one seeking to strike at his pride constantly

I have been meditating lately on the treasure that is Jesus Christ and the joy that comes from viewing Him as just that, a reward.  When you read the Gospels and the other writting of Scripture you cannot help but to see the joy that the disciples found in Jesus Christ.  John’s writting are a glorious place to begin and see the wide and deep love of Christ and then when you move to Paul and see the riches that he found in Christ you cannot help but find the same joy that they had.  Joy that gets you through tough times and joy that abounds in the good times.  And when you meditate of the joy in Christ you realize the seriousness of sin because it robs you of that joy.  It hinders your view of His glorious grace and more often than not sin is there because of our selfish desires that wage war in our members.  James writes about this in relation to quarrels that happen in his letter to the churches scattered abroud. 

With that said I have been deeply saddened by the sin that exists in the church and the flippancy that we view it with.  Before I say anything more I want to qualify that I know I am a sinner in need of grace and often times it is through the fires of life that we realize our hidden sin [see the book of Job]. The deep prayer of my heart is that this sin will be realized and grace will be sought so that repentance and growth will take place.  With that said, there are things that are taking place in the bride that I both fellowship and serve.  And more than the sin that is there I am deeply saddened by the flippancy towards this sin all in the mask of “trying to understand how the person feels.” Let’s call it what it is. 

Sin is sin no matter how you slice it…and it doesn’t belong. The church should see sin and be disgusted by it.  This does not mean that we hurt people because we are called to reprove in gentleness but it does mean that we address it.  I am tired of hearing “imagine how you would feel if this were happening to you.” I just want to respond with, “my hope is that I would have so much satisfaction in Christ that I would not care at all.”  Trials come into our lives to make us perfect and complete [James 1]. They exist to show us that we are not fully satisfied in God and therefore our view of His glory is hindered.  They are meant to draw us to need God [James 1]. We should not be a people who write off sin so easily because we are trying to understand how we would react.  We should be a church and a body that says sin doesn’t belong and it is better to address it up front and save that persons walk with Christ.  Sometimes that means serious correction [i refer you to the letter of 1 Corinthians].

My prayer and hope for our church is that God is revealing our hidden sin and through this we will come to a place of repentance and desire for grace.  That we will find our complete joy in Christ and die to our flesh daily.  That we will truly “Pick up our Cross!” Sin is sin no matter how you slice it…and it doesn’t belong in a blood bought child of God. 

- one in constant need of the grace of Christ

I have been amazed recently at the Sovereignty of God.  I have been swept away in the fact that He “cause all things to work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” [Romans 8:28]. Sometimes this is hard to see but it is awe inspiring when you sit back in some moments and see the design that God has for something that has taken place in your life.  I could give countless stories of other friends that have had this happen to that have encouraged me and reminded me of our Sovereign Lord.  He is constantly working to refine us, to reveal His glory, and to leave us breathless before Him.

My story begins by stating the fact that I believe that I am called to ministry but have not had the opportunity yet to become a full time minister.  For a period of time I worked for myself which was great and allowed for me to have an extremely flexible schedule that would provide the time to do ministry without the hinderance of time that is taken up with a full time job.  Recently those circumstance changed due to several unforseen events taking place.  I am now a bank teller.  Well a credit union associate which is only slightly different.  Basically, now I wake up around 6am every morning sit in traffic and spend about 10-12 hours away from home either in a car or at work.  10-12 hours.  When you add in the 6-7 hours of sleep the average person gets that leaves 5-6 hours of the day where I am not either sleeping or working.  This was a dramatic change in my life. 

The madness continues…I am what is called a floater in the credit union which means that when someone is out sick or has the day off I could be the one chosen to replace them at their branch.  Lately that has been a branch that is an extra 30 min to an hour away from my house and is extremely slow.  On my second day at this branch one of the other tellers gave me a piece of advice that was the best advice i could have ever received.  He said, “when you get to work you should pull up web pages with things to read so you have something to do throughout the day.” You see we have 1 hour from when we arrive at work until the network locks up and we cannot view any website.  So I took his advice. 

There is a faith pastor and minister of the gospel whom I admire for his dedication to the Word of God and his passion for the supremacy of Christ to spread.  His name is John Piper and he is the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist church.  He is also an author of somewhere around 30 different books.  Here is where I say he is faithful.  His has a ministry called Desiring God Ministries where he places all of his sermons, blogs, books, and articles online for download.  The thing I find incredible is that he does this all for free.  It is a ministry completely funded by the sales of his books and donations.  But one could go to his website www.desiringgod.org right now and download any one of his books in pdf format. Needless to say…everyday I am directed to this branch I download a book for free on the internet and read when I am not busy. This has been the most nourishing thing for me besause when I read his books they are saturated with scripture and I am experiencing more growth than I have ever experienced before.

I say this story for a few reasons.  First to show that in the Sovereignty of God, He has not only granted me a job to provide for my family but a job where I can read and study and grow in Him by giving a heart of service to a faithful pastor like John Piper who is willing to suffer the loss of large sums of money to provide his books online for free.  Free! The second reason is another story and relates to one of the books I just recently finish called “Finally Alive.” At the end of this book Piper gives a few ways to share the gospel and spread the love of Christ.  One of these ways is to be a lavish giver of books.  To spend extra money and give away books that proclaim the name of Christ.  His suggestion is to buy extra copies of books and give them to people.  Very few people will turn down a book.  Well, I have not had a chance to buy extra books yet but the other day I was reading one of the free books offered by John Piper online.  I had a co-worker ask me what I was reading and I was able to tell her that it is a book by my favorite author who offers all of his books online for free.  She was very suprised that someone would do this.  Now, I am not sure if she knows the Lord or has experiences the love of Christ and because of customers being around I did not have the chance to go into that but I could give away a free book, so to speak.  I wrote down the web address for Desiring God and suggested a book to read called “50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die” which is the Gospel in a book.  She accepted the web address and said thank you. 

I know this seems like a small way to share the Gospel but it is still a way.  And thanks to a Sovereign Lord, Faithful Pastor, and Simple Challenge my co-worker has a chance to read about the glory of Jesus Christ.  What a wonderful God!

- Ben