Tag Archive for: Theology

‘Tis the Party Season

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The same thing happens to me every year on Christmas morning. I’m awake very early. I sit with some coffee and listen to “Behold the Lamb of God,” and read the Christmas story in Luke. Then I start thinking about all the people I know and love who are in the grips of profound sadness, people who will celebrate Christmas without a child, or a parent, or a spouse who has passed away. I think about people who are very sick and about the ones who won’t get better. Without fail I end up in tears. Everything in me wants to just scream that this is so wrong. Death and pain and loneliness are everywhere all the time. Every year, in the wee hours of Christmas morning my heart breaks, because I know for many people the season exacerbates their pain.

Then, I look around at all collage of beautiful (and cheesy) Christmas paraphernalia that surrounds me. Someone who didn’t know us might think we have bought in to all the worst that secular culture has done to Christmas. We bring out the Christmas coffee mugs, cheesy musical Christmas toys, the door mat that plays a carol when you step on it, snowflake window decals, the electronic Christmas bell band, the basket full of elf hats, and the fake snowballs (really, whatever Wal-Mart was going to put in the dumpster we use at home to decorate for Christmas).

But even though they are just trinkets, and woefully inadequate, they proclaim that in our home we are remembering and rejoicing that something beautiful has happened.

We delight in the day because we believe the story.

We believe Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem and had a baby in a barn. We believe the angels burst out of the sky and blew the shepherd’s minds as they sang about the glory of God’s love. We believe Joseph maybe still had his doubts, but he trusted and obeyed God, and so witnessed the miracle. We believe that the child born of Mary is the Savior of the world, our Savior, and the Savior of all those people my heart hurts for on Christmas morning.

Every year as I sit in the light of the Christmas tree and listen to the story in song my tears change from sorrow to joy. Every year the wonder of God’s grace wells up in me and fills me with so much happiness and hope I want to burst.

How can I not jump for joy? Our Savior has come to us!

Christmas at our house means non-stop feasting and carbohydrate overload. We open presents. We launch sticky rubber chickens so they stick to the ceiling, then shoot them off with helicopter pistols and Nerf guns. We have fake snowball fights. We blow up balloons that fly around the house and make fart sounds. We play with all the new toys and wear our new slippers and wear ourselves out having the best time together.

But I love Christmas and Christmas day because I cherish the story the season represents.

I think it is God’s grace to us that so much of our culture still pauses for the season. Even if for many people it is just a few days off work, or if they think it’s just the greatest marketing ploy ever; even if some Christians get put off because an unbelieving culture doesn’t honor the meaning of a miracle they don’t believe; none of that inhibits the party at our house.

The holidays are no different than any other expression of God’s common grace to people – you can miss it completely if you choose to. Or, you can have eyes to see that God has given the most wondrous reason to throw a party.

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2: 10-11

How Can I Do More for God?

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It’s a question so many well-intentioned Christians ask: “How can I do more for God?”

You experience the love of God and the goodness of the Gospel, and your natural, automatic response is, God did something significant for me, so I want to do something significant for Him! How can I pay him back?

The problem is nothing we could do for God could ever repay him for the grace he has shown us in the Gospel. In fact, God isn’t sitting around waiting for someone to offer their assistance so he can finally get something done around here. And there’s really nothing we can offer to God that he doesn’t already have.

So… what can we do for God, we wonder.

To find the answer, we start trying things like serving in the church, reaching out to neighbors, and being better stewards and employees and husbands and mothers and friends. But at some point, serving stops being convenient. It starts creating tension, conflicts with our goals, becomes overwhelming, and, little by little, we drop the plow we excitedly picked up in an effort to perform for the God who loves us unconditionally. The problem for many of us is we have the wrong idea of what it means to serve. It’s not about what we can do for God out of obligation or recompense, and more about how we can partner with him in love.

To help illustrate the difference, I want to give you two different pictures of Jesus and the way he served the Father during his earthly ministry. These are beautifully illustrated in the book The Burden is Light by Jon Tyson.

AMERICAN JESUS

If we were to write the Gospels today, they would be infused with this winner script. They would probably go something like this:

“Jesus was born of a virgin (a great start), and as a teenager, he was passionate about his Father’s house. He started his ministry with a prophetic declaration about the kingdom of God, fulfilling truth in a new and spectacular way. He then called disciples, gathered momentum, confronted hypocrisy, healed the sick, raised the dead, and challenged Herod. Then he voluntarily died to become the savior of the world. He rose again in victory, proving to everyone that he was alive, then ascended into heaven. Right before he arrived, the heavens opened and the Father announced, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ The angels stood to their feet, the disciples raised their hands in victory, and all of heaven rejoiced.”

For generations we have been trying to earn our Father’s applause by following this script. But of course, that’s not how Jesus’s life was ordered at all.

 

AUTHENTIC JESUS

The actual Gospels are not ordered like this. They show Jesus spending almost thirty years in relative obscurity. Before he healed a sick person, raised the dead, confronted hypocrisy, made disciples, preached to the crowds, and died and rose again, he was baptized. And at Jesus’s baptism, his Father declared, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”* Jesus hadn’t done anything public or important yet, so what could the Father have been pleased with? It’s simple. Relationship. Jesus spent thirty years abiding in his Father’s love, and that was enough. What pleased the Father was not Jesus’s accomplishments but his intimacy. This is the same thing that pleases him in our lives today.

Because Jesus was aware of his Father’s approval before starting his ministry, he didn’t have to compete with others during his ministry. The Father’s approval gave Jesus the security to avoid an addiction to success and scandalously give his life away in love. [1]

You see, Jesus lived a life of ministry out of love. He loved the Father and knew he was loved by the Father, regardless of his performance or success. There was no trying to pay the Father back for his love; his life was simply an expression of the love he had already received in his relationship with the Father.

When we go to serve God, whether it be in the local church, in the community, in our families or workplaces, we must adjust our motivation and remember this: God already loves you and accepts you because of Jesus. There is nothing that you can do to earn his love or repay him for it. So, when you serve, let it be out of an abundance of love and devotion.

Will it be difficult? Sometimes.

Will it be inconvenient? Often, yes.

But a life lived partnering with Jesus in love is a life lived as a son and daughter – not simply a servant.

If you’d like to find ways to get connected serving in this local expression of the church, click here. We’d love to help you find a place to serve that suits your gifts and talents and serves the body of Christ effectively.

[1] Jon Tyson, The Burden Is Light: Liberating Your Life from the Tyranny of Performance and Success (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2018), 52-53.

Time to Love

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“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”

David Ausberger

One of the first gifts Jesus gave to the downtrodden and marginalized people he met was the kindness of hearing them. That is why he asked so many questions. That is why he answered so many questions. That is what made him stand out from the other religious and civic leaders of his day — the important and very busy leaders of his day.

Jesus noticed. 

Jesus stopped and asked. 

Jesus listened to the answer and asked more questions.

Jesus didn’t confuse a person’s status with their significance, but sought to understand that particular individual.

Personally, if I could snap my fingers and be different in one specific way, it would be that I consistently took the time Jesus took to truly hear people, because I believe it is true that being heard is so close to being loved that most people can’t tell the difference.

You could fill Galveston Bay with all the material that has been written on good listening practices and I imagine the majority of it is helpful. But the way of Jesus had and has less to do with technique and more to do with intent.

Do you ever ask yourself, Why am I speaking with this person right now?

  • When you are talking with your spouse about what happened at work, or what the kids did today.
  • When you are disciplining your child.
  • When you are debating ideas in a meeting at the office.
  • When you are talking about a struggle in the life of one of your small group members.

Why am I speaking with this person right now?

I can tell you that many times my answer would be one of the following: “Because I have to.” Or, “Because I can fix that for them.” Or, “Because I want to give them a piece of my mind.”

I can also tell you that it is rarely, at least initially, “Because I want to understand why they feel the way they feel. Because I want to understand who they are, and not just what their problem is.”

But Jesus’ consistent practice was to seek out the person. To borrow a phrase from Paul Tripp, Jesus “looked for the person in the middle of the problem.” Jesus knew that a person’s problems can teach us a lot about who they are, so he sought to meet and engage the person who was struggling with the problem.

What is convicting about Jesus’ kind of listening is that it is not really that hard to do. I can do it. It’s just that I often don’t, because, too often, I am much more like the religious and civic leaders of Jesus’ day than I am Jesus — important and busy. So, too often, I don’t engage the person, I just offer my brilliant solution to the problem I haven’t taken the time to understand, because it’s easier to solve problems than to hear people.

Not long ago I heard a phrase that I have been thinking about since. I don’t know who said it, but I think this gets to the heart of the issue.

“Communication depends on the humility to speak in a way that the other person can hear.”

(Source unknown)

I am convicted that my listening problem is a pride problem.

How can I speak in a way the other person can hear if I don’t know anything about them? How can I speak in a way the other person can hear if I don’t take the time to ask, to seek, to reflect, to get clarity, to build trust?

I can’t.

We don’t need humility to give superficial or trite answers. We don’t need humility to give simplistic solutions to complex problems. We don’t need humility to brush people off because we don’t want to take time to get involved. We don’t need humility to hand out Bible verses like they are medicine.

Jesus is the definition of humility. We need to follow his way with others. He already knew everything about the people he met and the problems they had. He didn’t have to ask questions, but he did. And what Jesus did — with centurions, gentile women, Pharisees, crippled people, and even the demon possessed — was teach people one thing: he cared about them.

“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”

God, Why?

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Have you ever wanted God to answer for the bad things that have happened to you or others?

Have you asked things like, “Why did you choose this road for me? What is your plan? Do you even care? How can heartbreak like this come to someone who follows you?”

I know I sure have, and I know the confusion it caused. Praising God while carrying pain and doubt felt like trying to map constellations in a thunderstorm.

But thanks to his accommodating grace, God gives us an in-depth look at these types of situations in the book of Job.

In what scholars believe to be one of the oldest stories in the Bible, we see that Job asked many of the questions you and I have wondered — and, honestly, who could blame him?

Through an unusual arrangement, God allowed Satan to take everything from Job, except his life. In a matter of minutes, this wealthy man learned he had just lost his property, his abundant livestock, servants, and even his children. He was understandably in very grave duress, and the book maps out his journey of processing this trauma.

It’s not all grim and hopeless, though.

When I read the story recently, three things stuck out to me that I believe point to the relational heart of God:

1. God allows us to ask questions

While Job refused to curse God, he did dispute God’s kindness. “Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands?” (Job 10:3).

Clearly, Job couldn’t understand how the God to whom he’d remained devoted would let him lose everything. While Job’s friends urgently warned him to put a tight lid on what they believed was a sinful doubt struggle, Job continued to take his complaints to God, even when he thought his impertinence would provoke God’s wrath. “Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face,” (Job 13:15).

He then begs God, “Keep listening to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears,” (Job 13:17). God wasn’t threatened by human emotion on display. Job was not punished for the rawness with which he approached God.

How many times have I stood with my fellow worshipers, lifted my voice in praise, and suddenly choked on doubt when trying to sing of God’s goodness?

God’s response to Job gives me hope that I can approach him vulnerably, and let my heart be open, knowing I will not be judged for laying my confusion at his feet.

It reminds me of a stanza in the old hymn, “Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul”:

Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face,

And shall I seek in vain?

And can the ear of sovereign grace,

Be deaf when I complain?

No still the ear of sovereign grace

Attends the mourner’s prayer

Oh may I ever find access,

To breathe my sorrows there.

2. God is patient with grief

The whole book of Job is 42 chapters long — the majority of these alternating between Job’s expressions of pain and his “friends” trying (and failing) to adequately answer for the calamities that have befallen him.

Over and over, they told him that he must have sinned, otherwise God wouldn’t have sent this judgment. They berated his natural grief and rebuked the way he implored God.

But, instead of getting involved in the dialogue, God seemed to remain silent for a while. It’s not until chapter 38 that we see God speak, and it wasn’t to dish out judgment on Job for anguishing.

In fact, God never once scolded Job for his feelings of sadness.

A few years ago, my husband and I went through a heartbreaking season of infertility and miscarriage. We sensed that many people dismissed our sadness after the season dragged on. One person even told us that maybe we should stop praying for a child, if God clearly didn’t want to give us one! What a hard walk it was to continually ask that of the Lord, despite of years of disappointing reality.

But through that journey, God was always available. His voice was one of comfort and love, not shame or mere tolerance to our insistent praying.

3. God wants us to trust him

Instead of providing rationale for the purpose for Job’s suffering, God turns the charges on end. In a series of mic-drop inquiries, God makes it clear that Job isn’t qualified to demand answers. “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it,” (Job 40:2).

Using pretty robust hyperbole, God let Job feel a bit of his overwhelming greatness. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding… you know for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!” (Job 38:4, 21). By highlighting his might against human scantness, he was inviting Job to trust and submit to his sovereignty.

The message is this: if you cannot control time, space, or all the details of life on earth, then you may find security in the LORD — Yahweh — who does.

The extensiveness with which God shows his capability moves Job to repentance and humility, and this is where their relationship lands at the conclusion of the story.

I’ll be completely honest, I’ve wanted to raise my fist at the Lord before. At times, my prayers have not been PG. But, in a mix of anger and submission, I’ve been left time and again with the ultimate bottom line: “Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth,” (Psalm 73:25).

God doesn’t always address my situation, but he always shows himself powerful.

After all, there is none greater than the one who sees all and knows all. He is worthy to be trusted with my heart, so I can submit to his sovereignty. Even if my heart is feeble, he is worthy to be praised for his majesty.

Thankfully, Job’s prostration was not permanent. God granted him even more of the wealth, family, and renown than he had known before. What is probably more valuable than all of that fortune, however, was that Job came out of his disaster with a deeper understanding of who God is and how much he can be trusted — even when his ways don’t make human sense.

We can benefit from the telling of Job’s story. When our pain causes us to question God’s intentions, let us hold fast to his heart. He is a safe place for earnest doubts and struggles, he is patient with our expressions and emotions, and he is always inviting us to trust him.

Routines for a Heart of Revival

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God established rhythms of worship and remembrance for the Hebrews when they left Egypt and first became the nation of Israel. In addition to Sabbath days of rest, there were holy days of remembrance, feasts, times for confession, and days of thanksgiving. Through this intentionality, God’s people were taught to practice cycles of renewal.

Why were these days and times so important to the identity of God’s chosen people?

Jesus said the entire law could be summed up by the purpose of loving God or others. If everything God commanded was meant to help us love him or our neighbors better, then somehow the concept of regimen and rhythm was meant to help us grow closer to God and serve others.

Perhaps establishing or reestablishing a spiritual routine will prepare our hearts for the revival we desire.

Routines Positions Us

Psychologists agree regular routines decrease stress, promote better sleep, and are healthier for children.

During the pandemic, when millions lost their weekly patterns of work and play and home, mental distress increased. Routines decrease the mental load of decision-making and form a culture in our lives and homes.

God knew ordering our time was essential to maximizing our relationship with him. When God established routines for his people, they regularly included prayer, fasting, worship, giving, and remembrance. These activities often compete with work, school, activities, and the stresses associated with a full schedule.

But in our day of fast-paced and maxed-out schedules, the routines leading to revival slow us down, regularly, so we can hear from God and acknowledge him.

Routines Remind Us
Alarms remind us to wake up. We follow patterns when driving to routine locations. Important traditions put us in the mindset for holidays.

Routines help us do important things.

Proverbs 8:17 declares, “Those who seek me diligently find me.”

One of the benefits of a spiritual routine is that it establishes a consistent rhythm exposing us to truth: God exists and is the creator of all things; God loves you and desires you to know him.

Ignoring our spiritual wellbeing, like ignoring our physical wellbeing, can have dire consequences over time.

Daily prayer, regularly reading God’s word, weekly worship, small group encouragement, an annual fast — these are reminders of who God is and the kingdom in which we live.

What other ways might put you in the path of the work God is doing in and around you?

Routines Form Us
Our habits form us.

Twice Jesus was described doing an activity “as was his custom.” Both times the “custom” or routine had to do with worship and prayer (Luke 4:16, 22:39).

Jesus taught regularly in the temples and retreated often to pray.

There are routines which will improve your physical fitness, practices which will help you lose weight, and disciplines which will, over time, strengthen your financial position.

There are specific routines, too, which help position us to know God better. Hearing and reading God’s word (worship) and prayer are examples modeled by Jesus.

“Routine” may sound ordinary, but without organization, our time is reactionary to the events around us and not intentional toward the goals to which we aspire. Small deeds accomplish grand intentions.

A lack of routine results in a life lived according to circumstance. But routines, on the other hand, form us according to a plan.

Getting Started
1. Start Small — Start by modifying your current routine rather than trying to completely upend your schedule. Do you have silent time at lunch each day? Could you adjust how you spend your commute? Would an extra-long hot bath give you time to reflect? How hard would it be to carve ten minutes off of your gaming time? Consider a modification which overcomes the typical objections to personal renewal.
2. Remove Roadblocks — For some, accountability partners are essential pieces of daily or weekly routines. However, other friends may be a distraction. If the routine requires quiet peace, like prayer, remove the possibility of any distractions during the time you set aside. If the routine involves the joy of being with others, like weekly worship, then let everyone in your circle of friends and acquaintances know that you are busy during that time.
3. Get It on Your Calendar — Set a recurring 15-minute “meeting” on your calendar at the same time each day. Use the notification to pause and pray, read a short Scripture, text someone with an encouragement, or give to those in need. Even if you are super busy, you will be glad the reminder is there, and it will give you an opportunity to acknowledge and respond as soon as possible. To be successful, routines do have to be flexible. But first, they have to be a priority.

God’s design for his covenant people included annual, weekly, and daily routines meant to structure our days and intentionally focus us on worshiping him and loving others. Routines help us pause, remind us of the God we serve, and form us over time. If you are not typically a “routine” person, start small, remove obvious roadblocks, and commit to calendaring prayer, worship, and encouragement.

Nourishing these practices will prepare your heart for revival.

Long Road of Obedience

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We see it recorded throughout the Bible.

It is in the long-suffering of the people of Israel, the wisdom of Ecclesiastes, and the personal reflections of Paul.

It is the yearning voiced in many Psalms and in the cries of the saints in Revelation.

It is part of the fabric of Scripture, and yet, when we encounter it personally, instead of accepting the spiritual heritage we have in common with the people of God throughout history, we often find ourselves frustrated and discouraged.

“It” is our longing for God to bring to ultimate completion his promises to his people.

“It” includes our personal longing for the practical implications of his promises in our lives and our souls, right now.

This is true not only of our desire for material and circumstantial comforts, but of the yearning we have for our own spiritual maturity – our desire to want to know and obey God.

How many times have you asked yourself, Why do I still have these sinful thoughts? Why do I still want to do what I know I should stop doing? When am I going to change?

How are we to respond when we find ourselves being discouraged when our personal patterns of sin repeat themselves?

You would think that king David would have had his spiritual act together.

He had been chosen by God to rule Israel. God spoke to him, protected him, and prospered him.

God lifted David from the smelly obscurity of shepherding sheep and placed him in a palace.

Of all people you would expect David to be able to model thoroughgoing obedience.

But read the story of his life and you see a man who was at times immature, rash, selfish, and even violent.

The prophet Nathan confronted David about a particularly sinful act of selfishness (2 Samuel 11-12). We can learn from David’s response in Psalm 51:

Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Psalm 51:9-11

Here are some questions to consider in light of David’s words in Psalm 51.

When you sin, stumble, fall short – again – do you struggle with guilt? Do you think God is disappointed with you, maybe even angry? Do you fear God is going to punish you?

 David did not feel that way. He didn’t hide from God, and he didn’t allow his sin to estrange him from God. Instead, he turned to the gracious character of God.

“Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.”

David wasn’t hoping God would do those things, he was stating what he knew God had already promised to do.

In other words, in the conviction of his sin he acknowledged his need for God’s grace, and he confessed his trust that God is so gracious.

Who are you depending on to do the work of transforming your thoughts and actions?

When you ask yourself, Why do I still have these sinful thoughts? Or, Why do I still want to do what I know I should stop doing?

Are you focused on changing through your own effort and discipline?

David clearly wasn’t.

David asked God to work in him, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

There is a powerful and encouraging word in verse 10, renew.

It isn’t that David doesn’t know God or hasn’t wanted to obey God, he has been a faithful man and he asks God to work to renew his heart. David knows that God being restored to the throne of his heart is the basis of a faithful, obedient life.

Do you tend to engage your failure from a physical, material perspective?

David lived in the presence of God and with a continuing sense of the Lord’s Spirit within him. He knew that his worldly failures were the result of the sin that also abided in him. He was engaged in a spiritual struggle.

He asked for mercy, for renewal, and for God’s patience because he knew God’s grace is greater than the brokenness he could not completely escape.

We should be challenged and encouraged by David’s response to his sinfulness.

When we are discouraged by the unholy things we do, like David, we should be overwhelmed by the power of God’s abiding grace.

Before we set about redisciplining ourselves and redoubling our efforts to be good, we should, like David, first choose to believe God and to enthusiastically throw ourselves into the sea of his love.

When we suffer again from our inability to completely avoid succumbing to our sin we should, like David, seek to address the spiritual struggle within us.

God has forgiven us in Christ, already.

God has the power to transform the desires of our hearts.

God is present with us and in us.

In these truths are the roots of sustained obedience and ongoing transformation.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

A New Year, A New Rhythm: Lectio Divina

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“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
James 4:8a

Recently, Bruce Wesley kicked off the new year by challenging Clear Creek Community Church to “Seize an opportunity in the New Year… [to] do something simple in your relationship with God.”

As I think about the simple things I’ve done to grow in my relationship with the Lord over the years, I think back to times someone challenged me to journal as I read Scripture. That was a simple practice I adopted and God drew near to me through it.

Or, I think about our 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting, following simple prompts to draw near to God on a daily basis.

But there has been one practice I’ve embraced over the last year where I made an intentional effort to draw near to God. As a result, I can attest that God has drawn near to me.

So, if you’re looking for a simple way to draw near to God, I want to encourage you to seize this opportunity with me in 2023.

The practice is called lectio divina. That’s a Latin phrase that simply translates to “divine reading.” It’s reading or listening to the Bible with an acknowledgment of God’s presence with you. This kind of devotional reading aims at growing intimacy with the Lord, more than gathering information about him.

This isn’t Bible study, it’s divine reading.

If you think about the first 1,500 years of church history, a majority of the known world was considered illiterate, and many who could read didn’t have their own copy of the scriptures to read. So instead, these saints of old would gather for a time of lectio divina. They would listen to the Bible read with the desire to be with God and hear from God. And perhaps, a brief and memorable word would become their daily bread, something that would encourage them throughout the day or week until they could come back to God’s word again.

What would it look like to approach reading the Bible that way in the new year?

Well, lectio divina is traditionally made up of five movements. I try to incorporate these five movements in daily devotional time with the Lord. It usually takes about 30 minutes each morning.

1. Silencio — Quietly prepare your heart

Personally, I try and begin by spending five minutes in silent prayer, simply asking God to meet with me, slowing down, relaxing my breathing, and intentionally acknowledging God’s presence with me. St. Ignatius of Loyola suggests beginning this time of prayer by standing in front of the chair you’re about to sit in and imagining God has already been waiting to meet you there.

2. Lectio — Read the word

Read Scripture slowly, perhaps even out loud, lingering over words as the Holy Spirit leads. As you are encouraged or convicted, or something catches your attention, don’t rush past it. Stop. Consider what God might want to say to you in that moment. My rhythm is choosing a Bible reading plan where I read a chapter a day of either the Old Testament or New Testament plus a daily Psalm. The psalms are the “prayer book of the Bible,” so I begin there allowing the psalm to guide my worship and devotion. It’s no coincidence that often the psalm for that day divinely expresses some emotion or thought I’ve been trying to express to God. Acknowledge God’s forethought in bringing you to whatever text you read that day.

3. Meditatio — Meditate

Consider reading through the selected text a second time, savoring the words. Think about Christian meditation as ruminating and gnawing. Ruminate like a cow chewing its cud, turning it over again and again for the purpose of fully digesting it. Gnaw on the scriptures like a dog gnaws on a bone to get as much meat and flavor as possible. Meditating is another practice that slows me down. Instead of rushing through a time of reading the Bible, I stop, write down certain words or verses that God brings to mind, and then prayerfully meditate on them.

4. Oratio — Respond in prayer

Allow the scriptures you’ve just read to guide your prayers in response. Who did God bring to mind as you read these verses in the Bible? Use that as a prompt to intercede for them in prayer. Where were you personally convicted or challenged? Use that as a catalyst to commit to following Jesus in a different way or to confess sin. Author Basil Pennington suggests choosing a “word of life” (a simple phrase from your daily reading) and allowing that to guide not only your responsive prayer, but a sense of unceasing prayer throughout the day. I recently hung a small keychain on my key ring. Every time I reach for my keys and see it or touch it, I use that as a reminder to pray whatever “word of life” God brought to my mind that day. Consider doing something simple like that to guide your prayer, connected to your devotional reading.

5. Contemplatio — Contemplate, rest, and wait in the presence of God

What if instead of closing our Bible and quickly rushing off to our next agenda item, we instead committed to rest in God’s presence for a few minutes after we read his word? As an efficiency-minded person, this is a practice I must force myself into. I have to resist the urge to speed through my time with the Lord in order to move on to the next task of my day. To be honest, the most important moment of my day is when I am resting in God’s presence. And that shouldn’t be rushed. Resist the urge to pull out your phone. Resist the urge to fill the silence with your words to God. What if you committed to two-to-three minutes of silence with the Lord and allowed him to speak to you as you concluded your time of lectio divina.

This is a simple practice of drawing near to God. I’d challenge you as we begin a new year, to seize the opportunity with me to meet with God in a daily rhythm like this. It may be challenging or awkward at first, but when you draw near to God, he will draw near to you.

5 Books We Recommend for 2023

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Reading a great book can be transformative, whether its fictional, theological, devotional, or anything else! Reading a great book can also just be a great way to find quiet away from the hustle and chaos of modern, screen-centered life.

We asked a few members of our church staff, “What was the best book you read in 2022, and why?” Here is what they told us!

So, choose one (or more) of these books to read in 2023. Consider inviting a friend to join you and pray that God would transform your hearts and your minds through reading and contemplating the wisdom you find.

Trusting God by Jerry Bridges

“Sometimes it’s easier to obey God than it is to trust him. Even when we don’t want to obey them, we generally see God’s laws as reasonable and wise … but sometimes our circumstances defy explanation, leaving us confused, frustrated, and struggling with the very honest question ‘can I trust God?’”

Trusting God is a robust study on the topic of Gods sovereignty; you’ll find yourself trusting him more completely — even when life hurts.

— Denise Ward (IT Director, Group Guide)

Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland

The best book I read this year was Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland. I just appreciated the emphasis on God’s love for sinful, struggling people. It helps a sinner want to draw near to Jesus instead of hiding or feeling unworthy. I needed it and the guys in my small group needed it, too.

— Greg Poore (Associate Pastor)

The Son of David by Nancy Guthrie

Nancy Guthrie is a gifted Bible teacher. In this book, she puts you in the place of the original New Testament reader, showing you specifically how the Old Testament leads to Jesus. She shows you how all the “great characters” of the Old Testament ultimately point to Jesus. I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated the Old Testament like this. I learned a lot and really enjoyed it along the way.

— Rachel Fisher (Small Groups Associate)

Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton

This book has changed my prayer life, and I think it will change yours as well. It is both insightful and practical. Not only are there helpful revelations in each chapter, but each concludes with a practice that makes it easy to immediately apply what the Spirit reveals to you. You have to read this invitation to the wonder and mystery of prayer!

— Tanner Smith (Director of Prayer Ministry, Worship Leader)

Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright

Wright’s book answers questions about the biblical perspective on last things: Where do we go when we die? Where is Heaven? How does the resurrection impact our resurrection? What is the new heavens and earth about? How do these truths impact the church’s mission?

Wright, a world-class New Testament scholar, clears up misunderstandings that pervade today’s church on end times issues with incredible discernment and clarity. There won’t be many better books on the subject than the one N.T. Wright has penned. This book’s teaching on the future will make a difference in your present.

— Yancey Arrington (Teaching Pastor)

Art, Antibiotics, and Astronauts: God’s Gifts of Common Grace

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What do Van Gogh paintings, antibiotics, the International Space Station, and microwave ovens have in common?

In a very real way, they are all gifts from God. How so? Let’s listen to Philippians 4:8, a well-known passage from Paul the apostle:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

For years, Paul’s words to the church at Philippi have fascinated me because I used to think the apostle was calling believers to discern and embrace the good from Christianity.

But upon further reflection, that makes no sense.

The faith is entirely good and needs no discernment. Therefore, it’s more likely Paul is calling believers to discern and utilize the good, wise, and true things they find in society.

Indeed, biblical scholars note the list Paul gives is representative of the virtues celebrated in the Greek Hellenistic society of that day. For example, the famous philosopher Cicero, who was a contemporary of the apostle, said, “But what is there in man better than a mind that is wise and good?… all that is lovely, honorable, commendable.” Wow! It’s almost a mirror of Paul’s list.

Furthermore, commentator Dr. Gordon Fee concludes,

“Paul is telling [the Philippian church] not so much to ‘think high thoughts’ [but] to ‘take into account’ the good they have long known from their own past, as long as it is conformable to Christ … to encourage the Philippians that even though they are ‘citizens of heaven,’ … they do not altogether abandon the world in which they used to, and still do, live.”¹

This call for Christians to discern and utilize the goodness and wisdom of the world may surprise some, but it’s not astonishing for those who know about the biblical doctrine of common grace.

Common grace, also referred to as general grace, concerns God’s goodness which extends to all his creation — things that are ‘common’ or ‘general’ to all humanity like order, art, science, creativity, etc. Scripture refers to God’s common grace in places like Matt. 5:45, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”; Psalm 145:9, “The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made”; and Luke 6:35, “… for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”

Consider the following human activities: 

  • Going to MD Anderson for cancer surgery or picking up cold medicine at your local CVS;
  • Touring The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston or laying on your couch listening to Spotify;
  • Meeting with a local financial coach for retirement planning or reading a well-respected psychologist’s book on personality patterns.

These are all examples of engaging the truth, goodness, and wisdom of God’s common grace in a society. We do this every day without knowing it. Yet, Philippians 4:8 reminds us to do so discerningly (“whatever is…”), because not everything in culture is good, true, or beautiful.

Culture and society are broken by sin, and thus are mixed bags of good and bad, beauty and ugliness, truth and lies. That’s why the apostle says followers of Jesus should neither outright reject all its products nor swallow it whole but parse out and engage the commendable, excellent, and true within it.

For example, maturing Christians will be those who increasingly aren’t fearful of the common graces of science, technology, or medicine. They recognize how unbelieving culture can, with discernment, produce great things of worth that are good, true, and beautiful gifts.

Gifts like Van Gogh paintings, antibiotics, the International Space Station, and microwave ovens.

 

Footnotes

  1.  Gordon Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995), 415.

Faith in the Midst of Doubt

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I can’t remember a time in my life without God. However, several years ago I walked through a season of doubt that was difficult, scary, lonely, and isolating.

What can Christians do when they are beginning to question everything they have ever believed?

I grew up in a loving Christian home and attended a healthy church that taught me to love God and his word. Some of my earliest childhood memories are singing along with Christian songs on tape in the back seat of my mom’s car and rushing off to AWANA with my dad, and for that foundation I am grateful. But through a long series of events, I began to experience doubts that sent me spiraling downward:

Does God even really exist?

Did we just make him up to help us deal with life and death?

If a higher power does exist, how can we know he resembles the God of the Bible?

Do I only believe in God because Christianity is all I’ve ever known?

I was pierced by so many questions that it felt like I was playing Jenga, pulling out all of the pieces and wondering if the whole tower would come crashing down. It was hard for me to even read my Bible because every time I opened it up, I was faced with the constant assault of nagging questions that threatened to dismantle everything I had based my life upon.

I kept this struggle private for a long time, not feeling permission to ask these questions and worrying what other people would say about me if I actually verbalized some of these doubts. But everything seemed to change when I opened up to other people, sharing my fears and struggles. I still had all the same questions, but the questions weren’t quite as scary anymore.

I still struggle with doubt, and I probably always will. Going through those struggles changed and shaped me in profound ways that I’m still trying to understand. The questions still remain, but I have to remind myself that questions are not a bad thing. I want a real, robust, and genuine faith that is based on the truth, not just on something someone else told me. I still don’t like to face the doubts, but I know that the faith I have on the other side of the struggle is deeper, stronger, richer, and more historically rooted than I ever had before.

This short article can’t possibly cover all the various reasons, motivations, and struggles that can accompany someone who is walking through a season of doubt. But I’d like to offer a few pieces of advice for anyone who might see a bit of themselves in my story:

Talk to Someone
You don’t have to fight this battle alone.

Give yourself permission for sincere doubt.

The church is the best place to bring your questions; find someone who you trust and open up about your struggles.

Keep Asking Questions
Doubt is not a sin.

It is part of being human and can be a healthy part of our spiritual growth.

Stay curious!

Keep a Soft Heart
It is possible to think critically with your mind while still maintaining a gentle spirit.

Our quest for truth should not leave us in a place where we are cynical, resentful, angry, or stubborn.

Wrestling through the toughest questions in life is not always easy, simple, convenient, or pretty, but it doesn’t have to be lonely, scary, or painful. We can find joy in the journey.  The hard work of faith is worth it to know God and look more like him.

 I believe; help my unbelief!

Mark 9:24b

Tag Archive for: Theology

206: Can Anyone Really Understand the Bible? (A Closer Look at 2 Peter 3:14-18)

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So many Christians have a deep desire to study the Bible, but find themselves confused or frustrated along the way.

In this episode, Tanner Smith, Aaron Chester, and Tiffany Ravedutti get practical about if its really possible to understand the Bible, and if so, how to do it.

205: Where is Jesus Now? And, When is He Coming Back? (A Closer Look at 2 Peter 3: 1-13)

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Jesus has risen from the grave, he’s alive!

But….where is he and what is he doing now?

When will he be back?

In this episode, Rachel Chester discusses these questions and more with Jenna Kraft and Aaron Chester.

204: Why is God So Angry? (A Closer Look at 2 Peter 2:1-22)

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Is God an always affirming easy-going Santa in the sky?

Or is he an always angry vindictive monster in the sky?

On this episode, Tanner Smith talks with Aaron and Rachel Chester about a biblical understanding of the character of God and our desperate need for justice.

203: Are There Any Modern Day Prophets? (A Closer Look at 2 Peter 1:16-21)

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On this episode, Tiffany Ravedutti talks with Yancey Arrington and Jenna Kraft about what prophecy looks like in the Bible, if there are any modern day prophets, and how we can think biblically about prophecy today.

200: Did Jesus Really Come Back From the Dead? (A Closer Look at 2 Peter 1:5-14)

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Is the resurrection of Jesus fact or fiction?

Does it even matter?

In this episode, Tiffany Ravedutti sits down with Jenna Kraft and Yancey Arrington to discuss the resurrection of Jesus, the evidence to support it, and its impact on the daily lives of Christians today.

199: Is Jesus Really God? (A Closer Look at 2 Peter 1:1-4)

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Seventy-three percent of evangelicals believe Jesus was created by God.

Forty-four percent of evangelicals believe Jesus was a great teacher, but not God.

Is this right? Or is Jesus really God?

Is there any biblical evidence for claiming the divinity of Jesus and does this even affect our faith?

In this episode, Lance Lawson asks Greg Poore and Aaron Chester these questions and more.

191: Real Faith, Apostasy, and Community (A Closer Look)

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In this episode, Tanner Smith interviews Lead Pastor, Bruce Wesley and Teaching Pastor, Yancey Arrington about this week’s sermon, “Real Faith, Apostasy, and Community”.

They discuss questions like: How does this sermon fit within the Biblical story of redemption? How did this message convict them, personally?

190: Being Prayerful (A Closer Look)

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In this episode, Tanner Smith interviews Associate Pastor, Greg Poore and 528 Campus Pastor, Chris Alston about this week’s sermon, “Being Prayerful”.

They discuss questions like: How does this sermon fit within the Biblical story of redemption? How did this message convict them, personally?

189: Enduring Injustice (A Closer Look)

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In this episode, Tanner Smith interviews 528 Campus Pastor, Chris Alston about this week’s sermon, “Enduring Injustice”.

They discuss questions like: How does this sermon fit within the Biblical story of redemption? How did this message convict them, personally?

188: Making Plans in Uncertain Times (A Closer Look)

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In this episode, Tanner Smith interviews Egret Bay Campus Pastor, Ryan Lehtinen and Clear Lake Student Director, Kyle Mikulan about this week’s sermon, “Making Plans in Uncertain Times”.

They discuss questions like: How does this sermon fit within the Biblical story of redemption? How did this message convict them, personally?