Exchange Blog

All the Way Until

2009-01-02T23:28:00.001-08:00

While flipping channels I came across one of those count-down shows. You know, top 50 child starts, top 100 80's songs, top 20 sci-fi movies, like that. This ons was about the top 100 hard rock songs. I grew up in a musically eclectic home, my friends growing up each seemed to be into their own style, so I have a certain tolerance level for most kinds of music. But these kinds of shows aren't so much about the topic, it's the stories behind the actors, bands, etc. And like any good story, there is a beginning, there is the success and growth of the character, then there is that magical word; until.

With these bands especially, the "until" were so tragic. I had to watch for a while because this pattern emerged. "The band did well, until (fill in the tragedy here)." The drummer over-dosed on cocaine. The front man died of alcohol poisoning. The bass player died due to complications with AIDS. And the legacy? "Man, those guys could rock." "They were inspiring because they were all about the angst." "They were pure expression." "They were all about (expletive)." "They changed the world."

No question people love these bands. No questions they impacted lives. I'm not trying to devalue what they did. It was just sad to watch the amount of influence these bands had, how that influence was used, and to hear about the "until" moments. People aspire to be like them in every way, to the point of dying like them.

As if these stories weren't sad enough, there were the commercials for the reality shows. Young men and women throwing themselves at each other or some celebrity, competing for attention, fighting over who is the sleaziest sexiest, it's just sad. What I kept thinking was, "That is someone's little girl." "That is someone's son." I wonder what their "until" moment was?

Everyone has an "until" moment. Even Satan had one. "Until iniquity was found in him." We all have one. And it's never too late to do something about it. That is, until death. If they were to include you in a top 100 list show, what would come after "until" in your segment? Something to think about.

Diversity, Debt and Multiple Choice

2008-12-29T09:06:00.000-08:00

Have you ever taken a multiple choice test? Changes are you have. The tests go something like this.

2 + 2 = (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3, or (d) 4.

Sometimes there is an “(e) all or none of the above” but for the moment those aren’t an option. There is only one right answer to this question and it is (d) 4. The other answers are great numbers but they are they are the wrong answers to the question. So far I can’t imagine that anyone would have any trouble with what I’m saying. Just wait, trouble is coming.

Much of our world today is trying to unite the world under the idea “unity in diversity”. In other words, it is our diversity of culture and beliefs that makes us strong. How a world can be strong when it’s citizens believe contradictory things makes no sense to me, but the world wants to have its cake and eat it too. The world wants unity under no one thing, other than the idea that we can have unity with all things being equal. They say, “Don’t force your view on me,” while they force their view on you. Hm. At any rate, my point is that unity in diversity is impossible. Just as there is only one right answer to 2 + 2 there is only one right worldview. But lets take the “diversity approach to this math problem and see what happens.

Imagine you tried to balance your checkbook and you could decide for yourself how math worked. After all, you have your way and other people have their way, and that’s what makes us stronger. Right? At the end of trying to find your bank balance you discover that what you say and what your bank says is very different. Your math says you have much more money than you bank says, and they want their money. In fact, it’s so different, you can’t every repay it. Hm. How can we buy a Coke and sing in harmony about this? The reality is that you can’t both be right. One of you is the authority in the situation, and one of you is not. ”But their can’t be authority. We all have the freedom to do things our own way.“ Really? Are you sure? The reality is that the bank is the authority and they care going to take over your account until you can repay them. You are no longer the authority. You never really were.

This same picture applies to the world’s relationship with God. God is the bank. His math is right. He is the authority. When we do our math our way it doesn’t line up with God’s math and God’s way. One of us is wrong, and it isn’t God. Because we have done things our way we have a debt to God that we can never repay. Never. There really isn’t God way or our way, there is only God’s way. We like to think we have a way, but we don’t. So what do we do about this debt we can never repay? I’m glad you asked.

God wants to set us free from this debt, but it must be paid. This debt cannot simply be erased, it must be paid somehow. That is what God did through Jesus. He paid off the debt for us. Our debt was transfered to Jesus account. We are free! Are we free to continue doing our math our way? Of course not. Why would we when we now know we’ve been doing it wrong all along? We ought to be thankful for this debt payment. We ought to want to work for the Lord with our whole heart and mind. Not to try and pay it back, because that’s impossible. We ought to want to because we love Him, because He first loved us.

Diversity leads to debt and moral bankruptcy. That much is clear as we just watch the news and what’s happening in our own neighborhoods. We need to come and see that there is only One Way. His Way. Jesus.

Daily Devos, Dec. 13, 2008

2008-12-13T09:52:00.000-08:00

Job 15:20
Eliphaz, like many Bible teachers and many the believers who follow them, is under the misconception that people who do bad things only and always only have bad things happen to them, while people who are good and "Godly" will only and always ever have good things happen to them.

Really?

What about Jesus? What about Paul? What about all of the Apostles who were martyred and lived under persecution? Sometimes those who live apart from God to reap the consequences. Sometimes they live the life of a king. Sometimes those who live for the Lord endure trials and tribulations which James tells us count all as joy. Sometimes they live in peace, rest, and blessing. But there is no simple one-to-one equation of good gets good, bad gets bad.

When we are experiencing what we perceive to be bad things, we need to ask ourselves if they are the consequences of our own action, or if it is a test from the Lord to build our faith Like He did with Abraham and so many others. When we are experiencing what we perceive to be good things, we need to check ourselves to see if we have a sense of "I earned this, I worked for this" versus "this is a blessing from God, I don't deserve it, thank you Lord."

Habakkuk 2:9-11
Before I throw this out there I want to say that I'm not trying to overly spiritualize these verses. This observation isn't my attempt to communicate the primary point or application of these verses. It's just something that occurred to me as I was reading them. If they are of the Lord and them bless you, awesome.

It seems to me that many Christians, myself included at least one time in my walk with the Lord, have isolated themselves from the world in the name of being holy. There is no question we are called to being set apart. In Deuteronomy God commands his people to "be holy for I am holy." Peter echos this in his epistles to Christians. However, being holy does not mean isolating ourselves in our own little Christian-culture bubble and having nothing whatsoever to do with the world.

Paul addresses the distinction in 1 Americans, er, I mean Corinthians when discussing sexual immorality he tells clarifies for them that when he first told them to avoid sexually immoral people, he meant those within the body of Christ, not those outside in the world. Otherwise there would be no opportunity to witness and lead people to Jesus. The Church has cut off many peoples by letting those who are already "in" in. It has set its nest on high to be safe from the reach of harm, of the world. This is the exact opposite of the example we have from Jesus.

Jesus was set apart from the world, and set apart to God to go into the world and save many people alive. When we cut ourselves off from the world we also forfeit our lives, the abundant lives that Jesus came to give us. If we don't cry out the stones and beams we have built around our selves will. I don't know about you but I'd rather not have a rock sit in for me.

1 Peter 3:15
I love apologetics. I love discussing God's word with believers and non-believers. I think that the (legitimate) ministries that exist to provide a logical, reasoned, and in some cases scientific defense of the faith are fantastic. It's important to always be prepared to make a defense.

But what has been lacking in my own life at times, and what I think is missing in many people who call themselves "apologists" who seem to do nothing but argue about the word, is the whole point of this verse. It isn't about "anyone who asks". It's about "anyone who asks for a reason FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU." Too many of us are the watchmen on the wall with arrows and spears ready to fire and hurl at those who would attack the fortress of our faith, the word of God. Granted Paul calls the word of God the sword of the Spirit, and that Hebrews calls it a double-edged sword. A sword is both an offensive and defensive weapon. Yes, we are in a war, a battle. But that battle isn't against flesh and blood.

The need to give a defense is not the need to clobber our "opponent". The need to give a defense (with gentleness and respect I might add) is because someone else sees hope in us, not because we are an enemy. Too often we make our defense without gentleness, without respect, and without any hope in us. Too often we are almost eager for a fight, ready to show just how wrong someone is, then the reality is that they need Jesus.

Be ready to give an answer, to make a defense. Just make sure it is because your hope is shining brightly as a city set on a hill, a lamp on its lamp stand, a light shining before men that they may glorify your Father in Heaven.

Teaching notes update

2008-12-13T06:57:00.001-08:00

For those of you interested in the teaching notes I've been posting, they are now located with the audio and video links to the individual studies. Head on over to the Multimedia page and browse to the particular book/series you are interested. I'm still updating the library so if what you're looking for isn't there check back later. Better yet, shoot me an email via the contact page and let me know.

Thanks!

Cold isn't a bad thing

2008-12-11T13:23:00.000-08:00

The cold weather they are forecasting for this weekend got me thinking. There is an very popular and equally misunderstood passage in Revelation 3 where Jesus tells the Laodiceans that he wishes they were either hot or cold, but because they were luke warm he was going to vomit them out. The popular understanding is that hot is good, cold is bad. That is a very modern interpretation of the meaning and is very wrong. The concepts of being hot or cold spiritually aren't the point and, in fact, are contrary to other parts of scripture. Jesus doesn't say hot is good, cold is bad, luke warm is really bad. The only bad is luke warm. Hot and cold are extremes. His point is that they weren't extreme for the Lord, they were luke warm.

As I was pondering this I came across an article that talked about how President Bush recently said that he doesn't take the Bible literally. It seems the immediate context had to do with creationism and the interpretation of Genesis. Nevertheless the statement raises all kinds of questions in all kinds of arenas. What if he had said that in either of his previous campaigns? Would he have had the backing of the evangelical community? What else in the Bible does he not take literally, and what is his basis for doing so? Is salvation up for grabs? The nature of Jesus? The resurrection of Jesus and those who follow Him?

The solution to all that ailed Laodicea was in Revelation 3:18-19. Understand that all of the imagery Jesus uses in writing to these churches would have made sense to them because it was relevant to their culture. For the purpose of this writing it's enough to understand that they needed a shift from self-dependence to Jesus-dependence. Instead of deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong, how we will interpret various passages in the Bible that make us uncomfy, we need to go to Him. When we rely on ourselves we become luke warm. When we rely on Him we become extreme. The world doesn't like extreme unless it's extreme for the world. But that is what it means to be luke warm from Jesus' perspective.

Be hot and cold. Doctors tell us to put both on various injuries. A hot cup of tea can be a great thing. So can an iced tea. Be extreme for Him. Be extremely His.

Self Reflection 1

2008-12-04T00:35:00.001-08:00

I added the “1” to the title because, for all I know, this will be the first of many. And to describe how I got to this particular self reflection would talk a blog entry all by itself. so I’ll skip that one for now. ;-) On to the reflection.

Some people are good at something they shouldn’t be. Like lying. Kind of a no-brainer, but it needs to be said. Some people aren’t good at things at which they are supposed to be good. Like being patient. Then there are those ones who are good at things at which they are supposed to be good, but still something is missing. They are incomplete. What’s missing are the things they used to be good at, things it would be good to be good at, but they aren’t anymore. Have I thoroughly confused you yet?

One skill I have tried to develop over the years is critical thinking. Thinking through things. Identifying truths and lies, rights and wrongs, facts and faults. For whatever reason I’ve gotten good at noticing, or drawing attention to lies, wrongs, and faults as opposed to truths, rights, and facts. Pointing out what is wrong is a good things. The word tells us to test, to judges, to evaluate. But if all you do is notice the negative you are going to find yourself increasingly bitter and increasingly left to yourself. It isn’t that I don’t see the good in things, it’s just that it seems like so many people ignore the bad that needs to be dealt with to the point where there is no such thing as bad. I could go on with examples and “why’s” but I don’t need to bore you with “Corby on the couch” time. Moving on.

I used to be known as an encourager. I’m not bragging on myself or anything, that’s just how it was back in the day. I don’t know precisely how or when it changed, but I’m not known for that anymore. I think one of the bigger reasons is that I had a job where I had to be encouraging. I had to be “on” all the time. Some guys who did what I did were natural at it. I wasn’t. I had to fake it after a while. I think I had to fake it so much that even when I felt the need, urge, or instinct to be genuinely encouraging that I shrank back from it because it felt fake. The same principle applied to other areas that are normal behavior for most humans. You know, like feeling happy. I had to fake people “up” and happy so much that I forgot what it actually felt like for real.

I need to stop being good at faking it. I need to temper being good at being critical. I need to get good again, more good, gooder, at being that encourager. Instead of just noticing the good in passing on the way to nailing the bad and shining the spotlight on it, I need to also shine the spotlight on the good.

Reflect.

eNews from the eXchange - Dec. 4, 2008

2008-12-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

Let's see how much I can forget to put in this email.

Something I have mention in a previous email but forgot to mention at church is that this Sunday night at 6pm, while we aren't having exchange groups, I will be up at my dad's church in Toutle playing a Christmas concert with Terry Clark (picture on the left above). You are all invited of course. Terry is one of those musicians and worship leaders who, when he plays, just takes you right into the presence of God. In addition to the worship he's got some plain old fun stuff too. Here is a link to a little mix of his stuff. Just a taste. http://www.exchangechurch.com/promofiles/terrydemo.mp3

Speaking of fun musicians, I have also mentioned Jay Koder in the past (picture on the right). Generally speaking most of the best musicians in the world go unheard of by most of the world. Jay is one of these players. Phenomenal guitar player, and loves the Lord to boot. Every year he puts together a little band and plays Christmas Carols at The Grotto Festival of Lights. We are putting together a little music and desert outing for married folks. The date is Tuesday, Dec. 23rd at 8pm. Depending on how many sign up we can take the church van (holds 12). Here is a link to a little mix of Jay's Christmas stuff taken from a concert a few years ago. Again, just a taste. http://www.exchangechurch.com/promofiles/jaydemo.mp3

This Sunday is Family Dinner and Communion. The food theme for Family Dinner is Sandwiches and Salad (sandwich pictured above). And, as mentioned, there is no Exchange Group. We pick up again the following Sunday at Rochy and Sheri's house. A preview of the next session is on the website.

Speaking of Sunday, as announced last week we will no longer have prayer on Tuesday nights. Instead we will refocus our efforts and meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30 before church. That will be an every Sunday meeting. In fact, show up a few minutes early so we can start at 9:30. Prayer is the conduit to the power of the Spirit. Without prayer there is no power. Without power our church goes nowhere and does nothing. That's not a guilt trip, it's just a reality. (Plus, if everyone is there early praying, maybe we could start on time! (wink)

For the ladies...
By the time you read this you will have either attended or missed Women's Discipleship on Thursday morning. If you missed it, don't worry because you can go to Sheri's at 8:30am and get in on the action there. Women's Discipleship is back in full swing. In addition, the Cookie and Card Exchange is happening this Saturday night at the church/school at 6pm. Invite a friend and/neighbor. Who could turn down cookies, right?

For the dudes...
Saturday morning men's discipleship is shutting down till further notice to revamp and regroup. But don't worry we aren't leaving you out in the cold. Saturday, January 24th the NW Calvary Chapel Men's Conference is happening in Seattle. The conference fee is $20. It goes from 9:30-4:30 and some great speakers are lined up. Let's see if we can put together a crew for an all-day outing. Flyers and posters will be out soon.

OK, that's about it. I'm sure I forgot something, but that's part of the fun, right? See you Sunday!

Corby "lettuce between his teeth" Stephens

Notes from Judges 1

2008-11-30T16:44:00.000-08:00

Here are my teaching notes from Judges 1.

Notes from Judges Introduction

2008-11-24T12:39:00.000-08:00

Here are my teaching notes from Judges Introduction.

No Faith, No Life

2008-11-17T16:42:00.001-08:00

While gearing up for a study through the Book of Judges I was doing a review of the Bible up until Judges. I wanted to get a flavor of the historical context of the events, as well as the spiritual vibe of the people being written about. It doesn’t take long, whether reading Genesis through Joshua, or just Judges by itself, to see a pattern of people loosing faith in God. Not because of what God does or doesn’t do, but because of the people and their choices. This idea of trust or faith struck me in light of Genesis 2 and 3. It struck me because I’ve never seen these events in this light before. Maybe I’m just slow. (Some would say there ain’t no maybe about it!) What struck me in Genesis 2 and after is this; where there is faith, there is life and relationship with God. Where there is no faith, there is no life, there is death, and there is separation from God.

When God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He told them that if they did that they would die. They wouldn’t die imemdiately, but literally it says “dying you shall die.” It was only the sixth day of creation when this happened. They didn’t know what death was. I’m sure it sounded bad, but they really didn’t know what death was. They hadn’t seen anything die yet, plant, animal, or human. They had to trust God. They had to take him at Him at His word. They had to put their faith in Him. As long as they did this they would live without dying. They would have perfect and unhindered relationship with Him. That is a beautiful thing. I’m still learning what that is for myself. The point is though that it begins with faith. Where there is faith there is life.

We don’t know how long it was until the events of Genesis 3 transpired but I can’t imagine it was too long after chapter 2. While Eve was tricked into it and Adam did it voluntarilly, they both decided to take their faith away from God and put it into the words of the Serpent. The result? Eventual death and a diminished relationship with God. Where there is no faith, there is no life.

Cain had no faith and was rejected by God.

The world left its faith in God, and all but 8 people died.

Abraham had faith in God and was the father of a nation. Life.

The nation lost its faith and they were slaves. Moses came with faith and the word of God, and they lived.

Again the nation had no faith when they got to the land, and only two who walked out of Egypt walked into the promised land some 40 years later.

Under Joshua the nation’s faith was like a yo-yo. Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost.

Joshua’s death is the opening of the book of Judges and the people ask God, “Now who’s going to lead us?” ingoring the obvious that God was their leader.

Judges covers a few hundred years of history and there is a pattern that emerges that is true in our lives today. It goes like this. Sin, servitude, suplication, salvation, and spiral. The people sin, they pay the price in servitude, they realize they screwed up and make suplication to God, God saves them, that generation dies off and the next one comes ups and sins, and the spiral repeats. Why? Because of a loss of or, at best, a lack of faith. Where there is faith, there is life. Where there is no faith, there is no life.

One question arrises that I won’t get into here. Is the reverse true? Where there is no life, there is no faith. Hm. Plug that into the equation of your own life, your own church, your own relationship with God and see what you come up with. Then get back to me on that.

Notes from Hath God Said - Jehovah's Witnesses

2008-11-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

Here are my teaching notes from Hath God Said - Jehovah's Witnesses.

Knowing good and evil

2008-11-08T07:05:00.000-08:00

When I sat down to write up this thought that I had I didn’t intend it to be a political commentary. It very could be if you want to read it that way. I won’t focus on that but if you want to read it once, then reread it with those goggles on, it could have some interesting implications. Thought I’d paste that here before the meat of the thing.

I’m studying for a one-off study this weekend on Jehovah’s Witnesses. Between books I like to hit one or two topical things. Relevant things that have come up and need addressing. A few weeks ago the Jehovah’s Witnesses came by and left a flier on my door. Without going into my whole study here and now, I thought it would make good fuel for a new once-in-a-while-series called, “Hath God Said…” Not an attack series on the evil and wicked cults, but an equipping series to help people out of their deception and into light.

As a lead off I’m going to talk about Genesis 3:1-5 where Satan tempts Eve, hence the name, “Hath God Said…” Part of Satan’s verbal assault is to say that God is just afraid that if they ate the fruit of the tree that Adam and Eve will be like God, “knowing good and evil.” This puzzled me for the longest time as a Christian because, on one hand I thought, “So what?” On the other hand I thought, “What does it even mean to know good and evil?” And here’s the kicker. Satan wasn’t lying when he said that because in 3:22 God confirms it saying that Adam and Eve have “become like us, to know good and evil.” What does it mean that God knows good and evil? If we can figure that out we can know what it meant for Adam and Eve.

The Hebrew word for “know, knowing” used here can mean a few different things. To know as a result of experience. That can’t be it here because if God has experienced something evil first had He would no longer be holy. The word can mean to know because you have learned a thing. That can’t be it either because God can’t learn anything, He already knows all that there is to know. It can mean to know in the sense that you understand the concept. That wouldn’t seem to apply because Adam and Eve already knew conceptually that they were to obey (good) and to disobey (evil) would be bad with consequences.

Then there is this one. To know in the sense that you are able to discern, decide, or discriminate something. Discriminate like sorting colors into bins or boxes or something. “This one is red, this is blue, this is green, this is blue…” You just know. To decide “this one is good, this one is bad.” To discern “I can tell that this one is good, I can tell this one is bad because I know.” I believe this is the kind of knowledge we are talking about when it refers to God, and Adam and Eve. This is what Satan was referring to when he tempted Eve. In other words,

“You will not surely die, but you will be like God, deciding for yourselves, discerning for yourselves, discriminating for yourselves what is good and evil.”

The reality is that God is the one who decides what is good and what is evil. He defines what is good and what is evil. He knows what is good and evil because He defined them for us to live by. Satan’s temptation to Eve was, “You can decide for yourselves what is good and evil.” What happens when what we decide is good or evil contradicts what God decides what is good and evil? Who is right? Obviously God’s definition is the one that trumps all others. When we begin to decide what is good and evil and that doesn’t line up with what God says, the result is always sin. The result of sin is always separation from God. I think you can see where this is going. This is exactly why relative truth is self contradictory.

What does this have to do with the Jehovah’s Witnesses? However good intentioned the originators of the Witnesses were, they bought into the same thing Eve did. They have reinterpreted and reapplied God’s word. They have decided for themselves what God meant. JWs aren’t being deceptive. Rather, they have been deceived, just like Eve. Jesus said we can know the truth, and the truth will set us free. That is the goal of the study this weekend.

Notes from Re-Think Tank part 3 - What is a disciple?

2008-11-02T15:20:00.001-08:00

Here are my teaching notes from "What is a disciple?"

Labor Pains

2008-11-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

Paul, writing to the believers in Galatia, says in Galatians 4:19, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,” In Romans 7:3-4 Paul says, “So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another--to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” (emphasis added).

It’s interesting how sexual and intimate Paul can be in his language. In other places he said that he considered himself a nursing mother to the new baby believers. Marriage, sex, labor pains, fruit. Fellow believers, especially you pastors out there, have you ever thought about it like that? The “labor in birth” dynamic hit home for me this past week, and indeed these past several years. I’ve always conceptually understood it, but never really experienced it. At least I never connected the dots. (I can be a little slow sometimes.)

I’ve been in bad moods before. I’ve been generally depressed or down before. We all have. But this past week, and the weeks before that for that matter, I’ve had unusually intense “grumpies”. They have been increasing in their intensity. It’s no fun for anyone. The Lord must have spoken to me this morning because the thought came out of nowhere (or so it felt). “These are labor pains.” The last few days have been particularly intense. One moment I’m ticked at God, life, everything. I want to quit. God is stupid. I want everyone and everything to just go away. The next moment I love everyone, God is so awesome and merciful, and I’m ready to stick it out and go one step further. Jess was in labor for about 29 hours with Jonah. Labor involves contractions. Waves of pain and waves of rest. It gets pretty intense toward the end (I had the fingernail scars in my hand to prove it for a while!). That’s what my own God-oriented mood swings have felt like, and it’s all centered around the idea of our church growing.

I so want to bear fruit to God. I feel sort of ashamed to admit this but, as far as I know, I’ve never led anyone to the Lord. No one has ever come forward after a teaching. I’ve never prayed with anyone who has made a decision to surrender their lives to Jesus for the first time. While I have been used to encourage believers, grow believers up, even rededicate believers to the Lord, so far as I know I’ve never born fresh fruit to God. And it just eats at me sometimes. I know, I know, some water, some sew, some reap. The context of those statements has to do with missionaries and teachers. The pastor, as I understand it, is supposed to do all three as he leads the church.

I find myself pastoring a church of about 50 people in a town of 35,000+ people (Forest Grove and Cornelius) on the suburban edge of a metro area of millions. Drugs are rampant like everywhere else. Families are broken like everywhere else. People need Jesus like everywhere else. Yet we aren’t reaching them (cue depression). Sunday comes, we sing, I teach, Sunday goes. Don’t get me wrong. People are growing, people are changing, and I thank God for that. I love our people. I’m so very thankful for our people and their faithfulness to the Lord. But there’s no new (fresh) fruit. My hope of hopes is that the church is pregnant, that the quality growth we are seeing internally will one day translate outward into new lives. It’s like a pregnant lady towards the end who feels like “I just want this thing out of me!” That’s what I feel like. I just want our church to pop!

The key to giving birth, the trigger if you will, is intensity in the contractions. Pastor Jim Cymbala once described a particular prayer meeting at The Brooklyn Tabernacle for his wayward daughter as a labor room. It was intense. It wasn’t emotionally manipulative, it wasn’t fake, it was sincere crying out to God both with volume and with tears for a lost sheep. I’ve been reading a book called The Kneeling Christian. (I’ve been reading it for years.) Chapter 7 is titled, Must I Agonize? Consider these excerpts.

Prayer is measured, not by time, but by intensity. Earnest souls who read of men like “Praying” Hyde are today anxiously asking, “Am I expected to pray like that?” They hear of others who sometimes remain on their knees before God all day or all night, refusing food and scorning sleep while they pray and pray and pray. They naturally wonder. “Are we to do the same? Must all of us follow their examples?” We must remember that those men of prayer did not pray by time. They continued so long in prayer because they could not stop praying.

Child of God, our heavenly Father knows all about it [how busy our lives are]. He is not a taskmaster. He is our Father. If you have no time for prayer or no chance of secret prayer, just tell Him all about it, and you will discover that you are praying!

But are there not endless opportunities during every day of ”lifting up holy hands“ - or at least holy hearts - in prayer to our Father? Do we seize the opportunity, as we open our eyes upon each new day, of praising and blessing our Redeemer? Every day is an Easter day to the Christian. We can pray as we dress. Without a reminder we shall often forget. In the corner of your looking-glass [mirror], stick a piece of paper bearing the words, ”Pray without ceasing.“ Try it. We can pray as we go from one duty to another. We can often pray at our work. The washing and the writing, the mending and the minding, the cooking and the cleaning will be done all the better for it.

There is so much more to this chapter. The question we must ask with regard to intensity is this; how badly do we want it? How badly do we want to be fruitful? How badly do we want to be an influence for Jesus in this community? It’s going to take intimacy with the Lord. It’s going to take endurance as we experience labor pains. It’s going to take intensity in prayer. Paul said that the end, the goal of those labor pains was ”Christ is formed in you.“ Isn’t that what we all want? Isn’t that what we are all after? Push on in prayer with intensity and urgency. Push on in your priorities. When a woman is in labor there is nothing else as important at that moment. Push on in your crying out to the Lord for this new life to come forth. The alternative is, well, there is no alternative.

Push!

Devotional Demo

2008-10-31T06:41:00.000-07:00

One of the things I’ve wanted to do is, after I go through a book, to turn the study of that book into a devotional. Like one of those 30-day thingys. I started on one after I went through Acts and, like the Captain ADD that I am, I got side tracked. So perhaps I need a little inspiration. Here is the first one that I got through. I thought I’d post it as a demo and get some feed back.

Day 1 Acts 1:11
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

Have you ever felt alone or abandoned? Have you ever expected one thing to happen only to have the exact opposite, the worst imaginable thing, occur? Welcome to the world of the disciples in Acts 1. They didn’t expect their Messiah to be executed, yet He was. They didn’t expect Him to rise from the dead, yet He did. They didn’t expect Him to float up into the sky after dying and coming back to life, yet there He went. The reality was, and is, that all of those events were foretold in the scriptures. The reason the disciples felt alone, abandoned and confused was because they had faulty expectations about the Messiah. More specifically, they expected the “conquering hero” Messiah, the Son of David, who would come and kick Rome out of their land, not the “suffering servant” Messiah, the son of Joseph (from Genesis), who would die for their sins. Tradition got in the way of their understanding of God’s word. However, not only did God tell His people about these events hundreds of years before they happened, Jesus told His disciples in person that these things were going to happen. And they still failed to get it.

Faulty expectations have a way of setting us up for failure. When we have wrong expectations of what it means to follow Jesus we can find ourselves feeling alone, abandoned, and confused. “Where is God?” “Why did this have to happen?” “I thought my life was supposed to be better with Jesus and it feels a whole lot worse.” Have you ever asked questions like these? I have. The disciples did. In fact, most of the people written about in God’s word, our “Bible heroes”, did too.

When we find ourselves at this point the most important thing we can do is set aside our own expectations and cling to God’s promises. Jesus promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus promised to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be with us just like Jesus was with His disciples (John 14:16-17). Jesus promised that if we abide in Him we will bear much fruit (John 15:1-8). Are you standing around looking up and asking God, “What is going on?” Take heart. Get into His word. Exchange your expectations for God’s promises. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2 NKJV)

Notes from Daniel 11-12

2008-10-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here are my teaching notes from Daniel 11-12.

I mentioned on Sunday that I would also link to some addition resources on the history behind these chapters. Well, here ya go! These are both MP3s.

Bill Ritchie on Daniel 11 and Bill Ritchie on Daniel 12.

Also, as usual, I will be making a DVD with all of the audio, video, and notes from this series for those who are interested.

Notes from Daniel 10

2008-10-19T16:22:00.001-07:00

Here are my teaching notes from Daniel 10.

Notes from Daniel 9

2008-10-12T17:29:00.001-07:00

Oh man! I taught for 1 hour and 11 minutes this morning! Totally didn’t intend to do that. And I only spent like 10 minutes on the prophecy part at the end. Sheesh! Anyway…

Here are my teaching notes from Daniel 9.

Notes from Daniel 7-8

2008-10-11T01:14:00.000-07:00

Here are my teaching notes from Daniel 7-8.

Notes from Daniel 6

2008-09-28T21:32:00.001-07:00

Here are my teaching notes from Daniel 6.

Notes from Daniel 5

2008-09-26T08:05:00.001-07:00

Here are my teaching notes from Daniel 5.

Running on grace or faith?

2008-09-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Words have what is called a “semantic range”. It means that any particular word can have a range of different meanings. Those meanings depend on context. For example, the word “day”. “What day do you want to meet?” “Back in my day...” “It’s the end of a long day.” One word, three different meanings.

A thought occurred to me a week or so ago and I’ve been chewing on it for a while. As I was thinking it through and how I might convey this thought, I felt it important to point out that the use of two specific words might be outside of their usual semantic range. These words are “grace” and “faith”. Were they read with the typical meaning, that having to do with salvation, what I’m trying to say might come across as heresy. It isn’t. As you read this, just bear with me and I think you will see the Biblical truth in it. It may even inspire some change in your own life as it has in mine.

I try to go for a 30-40 minute walk four times a week. I load up the iPod with a study or two and get trucking. Recently toward the end of one of these walks a thought occurred to me and I don’t even know what prompted it. It wasn’t the study I was listening to because I’m usually multitasking up there in the brain. I think I was just tired. Perhaps the thought of “running on empty” inspirited it because I was hungry! The though went from “running on empty” to “running on grace”.

Lately I’ve been thinking about my own history of devotional time. As a young Christian I never developed a consistent devotional time. I tried several times. I tried to keep a written sort of prayer journal. My hand got tired too fast. I tried to pray silently but my mind would be all over the map. At the time reading the Bible outside of church was kind of a foreign concept. Like all of us, habits developed (or not) in our youth can effect us well into adulthood. For me, a consistent devotional life has been a struggle. “But, your a pastor? Aren’t you always in the word and praying?” Yeah, kinda. It’s one thing to do it for study and preparation to teach. It’s another thing to do it out of personal relationship, out of love because I want to spend time with Jesus. It can easily turn into a “job” if you aren’t careful.

As I said, I’ve been thinking through this lately and pondering how I can improve in this area. It occurred to me that I’ve been running on grace in my own life. Not the grace that saves, but the grace that preserves, the grace that maintains. Grace means getting something you don’t deserve. As an analogy, think of it like driving your car when the gas gauge is in that red “E” zone and the light is on. Yet somehow, it lasts longer than it should. That’s running on grace. God keeps you going, keeps you running, keeps you in a place where you are still being used, but it feels very draining. You feel like, at any minute, you could run out of gas. Does that mean it’s possible to run out of grace? In a sense, yes. Lemme splain.

Consider David and the incident with Bathsheba. He commits adultery and conspiracy to commit murder. Does God do anything about these sins as they are being committed? Nope. For a period of what could have been as long as three years, God doesn’t do a thing. David was running on grace. Still the king, still loved by his people, still the psalmist. However, at some point God decided to deal with it. David had years to repent but he did not. God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David. Until this point David was getting time he didn’t deserve. In effect, that kind of grace ran out and another kind of grace was extended. God gave David the opportunity to repent as part of this confrontation. David did repent and his tank was refilled. With what? I’ll get to that later.

Consider King Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. God had a plan for him and his kingdom. One chapter after another he learned of the reality and power of God. In chapter four of Daniel we see the King’s testimony about how he finally got it. He too was running on grace, at the end of his tank. However, his pride took him to a point where God had to do something about. He gave the king a dream which Daniel interpreted. For a year after that the king did OK, but then his tank ran dry and God intervened. Eventually the king did repent and his tank was filled up.

Granted that in my situation I’m not dealing with huge sins to be confronted like adultery, murder, and being a narcissist. But I have been running on my own strength and God’s grace. At this point I have a choice. Do I crash, burn out and force God to intervene, or do i fill up my tank? Fill it with what? Faith.

I can hear the brakes being slammed and the tires screeching to a halt. I’m not talking like some faith preacher as if faith is a force that I can control or manipulate. I’m talking about the kind of faith that drives us, guides us, strengthens us, and undergirds us. I’m talking about the kind of faith that kept Paul sane and driven as he was going around the eastern Mediterranean those four times with shipwrecks, prisons, beatings, and persecution. I’m talking about the kind of faith that is trust in God for today, tomorrow, and eternity. Faith is a proactive thing. It’s something we can exercise. It’s drives us.

When we seek the Lord, when we spend time with Him intentionally and deliberately, we are filling up our tank with faith. When we pray we are going before His throne, making our requests known, and asking in faith for God to keep us, to guide us, to strengthen us. We trust Him to do all of that because those are His promises. We know those are His promises because we find them in his word (2 Peter 1:3-12). We can’t know them and hang on to them unless we have spent time in the word. As someone once said, get into God’s word and get God’s word into you. From that point on we are running on faith.

We can run on faith for a while. Some people get filled up at church or Bible study. Those things are great, but they can’t be the only source of filling your tank. At best they keep the needle just above that “E”. And, when you are the one leading the church or the Bible study (like a pastor), it’s a drain on the tank, not a filling. If you don’t fill the tank it will eventually run down to the point where you are running on grace. Grace is a great thing. Praise God for it. But it isn’t how we are to run on a daily basis. We need to fill our tanks with faith in all its forms. Saving faith, empowering faith, the gift of faith, faith that moves mountains, and so on.

If you haven’t ever thought about it in these terms then just give it a try. Are you running on faith or on grace? If on grace then understand there is so much more. Your life could look radically different if you were to regularly fill up your tank with faith. Find ways that work for you. A reading plan, a devotional system, something that works best for you. Try things and don’t be afraid if they fail because you will find something that works for you eventually. Sometimes these things are seasonal. What works for a few years might stop working because you have grown as a person. It’s time to find something new, retry something that didn’t work in the past.

If you run on grace for too long, God just might have to step in and do something about that. While the end result of that is good, the process stinks and can be avoided. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleans us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.” James 4:10. Think about it, then do something about it. I know I am.

Notes from Daniel 4

2008-09-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

Here are my teaching notes from Daniel 4.

Unarmed and undangerous

2008-09-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday I had the privilege of teaching at the Fellowship of Christian Optometrists at Pacific U. It was a total answer to prayer to be able to connect with a group of college students. My role is to teach at the weekly Bible study every other week. On the off weeks one of the students will teach a more topical study and I will teach through a book. I chose Galatians because it’s shorter and it’s so meaty about being believers in the world, sticking close to right doctrine, and walking in the power of the Spirit.

When it came time to start the study I asked everyone to open their Bibles. (If you are one of these students and you happened upon this blog, this isn’t an attack on you. Consider it an exhortation and encouragement.) Only one person had a Bible with them, besides me. And he had it by accident. Every Christian, every believer, everyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ ought to have a Bible with them or easily accessible at all times. It’s just a must. It’s a given.

Why? It’s your bread of life. It’s your water. It’s your sword. We are always in enemy territory. If we go around unarmed we are also undangerous. We have nothing with which to ward off the enemy. We have nothing with which to defend ourselves. Most importantly, we have nothing with which to open and share the words of life. Granted that much of this can be done with scripture we have memorized. That is extremely important. But in this day and age it’s really nothing to carry one around with you.

I do remember what it was like as a college student. It’s often required that you carry all of your books you need for the day’s classes all day long because you don’t have a chance to go back to your dorm to reload. They get heavy! But these days you can get a Bible, a whole BIble that is 3x5x1.5 and weighs next to nothing. If you have a break between classes you can whip it out and read a chapter of Psalms, or the whole book of Jude. get a quick snack as it were.

Christian, God’s word is your lifeline. It is the final answer. Stash one everywhere you are. At your desk, in your car, in your bag or briefcase, especially in your heart. Who knows? Maybe this is why God hasn’t been using you the way He wants to use you, and the way you want to be used. You haven’t been equipping yourself. Try it for a while and see what happens.

Notes from Daniel 3

2008-09-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

Here are my teaching notes from Daniel 3.