Category Archives: Quotes & Excerpts

Straining by Grace.

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“Grace is opposed to earning, but not to effort.”

—Pastor Joel Dombrow quoting Dallas Willard and J.P. Moreland

“What if being a Christian actually meant a more difficult, more costly, less comfortable life?”

—Pastor Joel

From Joy Motivates on Philippians 3:12-4:1:

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

 

Counting others.

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Every time I tell our four-year-old son “I’m proud of you, son,” he is quick to remind me, “No, Daddy. Pride is bad.” True, son. So if I’m thinking about it I instead said, “Son, I’m really happy with you. You please me.” It seems our kids need to know we are happy to be called their parents. God the Father was happy to say the same of His Son (Matthew 3:17).

Our son is learning about humility. He’s getting the concepts down, and like all of us, learning in real-time the pitfalls of our self-centered pride. Brings to mind some of the things preached this Sunday in our church worship gatherings:

“You don’t need to try to be humble. Just be honest with who you are in light of who God is. Stop pretending, and trying to cover up who you are before others… Be honest before God.”
—Joel Dombrow, preaching on Philippians 2:1-11, Joy From Humility (Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011)

If we do that, we will then consider God as awesome, certainly more than ourselves. I was moved as I sat there asking God to do this in me.

Joel continued: “The humble person is someone who considers others as better than their self.” Not that we have to think that others are better than us, but that we place their needs before our own. We treat them as if they are better and more deserving than us. We must think about them more than us. It is putting others first.

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Paul writes, Philippians 2:3-4)

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Feel!

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Do you ever feel the real tension between duty and feelings? Like when we’re ‘supposed’ to do something, but just are not ‘feeling it’ that day? Sure, we go through the motions, if we can control ourselves and will our bodies through the routine. Question: is this how God envisioned the Christian life? Or did Jesus really mean it when He said to “love your enemies” — that He wanted us to genuinely feel something good towards other people, and towards God?

Read on:

The Bible talks about emotion just like we do in everyday conversation.

There is no special category for “Christian love,” that agape kind our Christian leaders like to talk about — intellectualizing an emotion into a philosophical ideal. Love, hope, joy—and even hatred—in the Bible are not lofty ideas and concepts; they are feelings and emotions, just as we know them in our own lives and talk about them with our families and friends.

There is a great example of what I am talking about in Romans 12: “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never by lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!”

See what I mean?

In these eight verses, Paul mentions emotions or uses emotional words a dozen times or so. They are mixed in naturally with the normal flow of his writing.

Really love people.

Hate what is wrong.

Love with genuine affection.

Delight in honoring each other.

Serve the Lord enthusiastically.

Rejoice in hope.

Practice hospitality eagerly.

Be happy.

Weep

Enjoy.

Commands to love and to be in prayer and to be joyful and not to be lazy are all jumbled up together. In the midst of a plea to keep our spirits boiling passionately, Paul tells us to have great empathy for others, to feel what they are feeling. If we are going to be enthusiastic in serving God, we have better feel others’ joy and pain as if it were our own.

It occurred to me that our spirituality is all about how we are feeling — whether we are feeling life or numb to it. If we are not feeling as we should, something is wrong with our relationship with God.

Paul takes no time to explain what he means by love and joy and hope and hate and sorrow. He doesn’t try to tell us that joy is not a feeling or that love is just a choice. He speaks in plain language and assumed that emotions are simply recording our feelings — the stuff of life that God has given us. Paul assumes we will know that joy and love feel like, and he exhorts that if we live by God’s standards, there are certain kinds of feelings that will fill our lives.

This is not rocket science to Paul; it’s clear and normal. He has no embarrassment, no hesitation, no theological barrier to putting pure emotion front and center. He tells it like it is in real life.

I wondered at all the sermons I’d heard and if I’d ever heard a pastor say, “Feel!”

Without any qualifications.

Without any theological rhetoric.

Without any attempt to redefine the word.

Feel!

I wondered how I’d react if I went to church one Sunday and heard, “God is telling you that next week you should be filled with happiness and good cheer; you need to give genuine, warm hugs every night to your family, and if something really bad happens to a friend in the church, you need to be over at their house crying with them. No, I don’t mean dropping by a card and a casserole for dinner, your Christian duty. I meant entering into their pain and really crying with them.”

Paul is that preacher. And that is what I learned from him in Romans. To him, a Christian’s emotional life is all rolled up in and with and around how we should behave and how we should think. For Paul it’s not different to say “cry with the grieving” than to say “don’t lie.” Duty is there, but not devoid of passion and true emotion. It’s all one.

So feel. And feel deeply.

—Matthew Elliott, FEEL: The Power of Listening to Your Heart, pp. 23-25.

 

Welcome to 2011: You Can Change.

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This week we each resolve to embark on a personal change project. This is a good thing. Perhaps there is much wisdom in trading one dramatic resolution for 10,000 little ones.

And since January is a great time to pause, reflect, and start a new course, let’s do it right with some true character development. (Hope and perspective win over cynicism and living in defeat any day. What we need is hope-filled perspective on reality and the future.)

In the last year I’ve come to trust and recommend a little book by Tim Chester, You Can Change.

Here’s the table of contents, along with a free chapter of You Can Change: God’s Transforming Power for Our Sinful Behavior and Negative Emotions:

  1. What would you like to change?
  2. Why would you like to change? (free PDF)
  3. How are you going to change?
  4. When do you struggle?
  5. What truths do you need to turn to?
  6. What desires do you need to turn from?
  7. What stops you changing?
  8. What strategies will reinforce your faith and repentance?
  9. How can we support one another in change?
  10. Are you ready for a lifetime of daily change?

Some quotes:

“Jesus is the perfect person, the true image of God, the glory of the Father. And God’s agenda for change is for us to become like Jesus.” (p. 14)

“Making us like Jesus was God’s plan from the beginning. God ‘predestined’ or planned for us to be like His Son (Romans 8:29). Before God had even made the world, His plan for you and me was to make us like Jesus. And everything that happens to us is part of that plan. One day we will share God’s glory and reflect that glory back to him so that he is glorified through us (v. 30).” (p. 15)

‘The Puritan Thomas Watson said that sanctification, the process of change, “is heaven begun in the soul. Sanctification and glory differ only in degree: Sanctification is glory in the seed, and glory is sanctification in the flower.’” (p. 20)

“You will cleanse no sin from your life that you have not first recognized as being pardoned through the cross. This is because holiness always starts in the heart. The essence of holiness is not new behavior, activity, or holiness. Holiness is new affections, new desires, and new motives that then lead to new behavior. If you don’t see your sin as completely pardoned, then your affections, desires, and motives will be wrong. You will aim to prove yourself. Your focus will be the consequences of your sin rather than hating the sin itself and desiring God in its place.”

“Many people change their behavior, but their motives and desires are still wrong; so their new behavior is no more pleasing to God than their old behavior.” (p. 28)

“God sent His Son to buy our freedom. We’re no longer slaves with a slavemaster. Now we’re children with a Father.” (p. 31)

“We become Christians by faith in Jesus, we stay Christians by faith in Jesus, and we grow as Christians by faith in Jesus.” (p. 43)

“Telling a slave to be free is to add insult to injury. But telling a liberated slave to be free is an invitation to enjoy his new freedom and privileges.” (p. 49)

“The Father is intimately involved in our lives so that our circumstances train us in godliness. The Son has set us free from both the penalty and the power of sin so that we now live under the reign of grace. The Spirit gives us a new attitude toward sin and a new power to change. The combined forces of the Trinity are at work in our lives to set us free and make us holy.” (p. 53)

“Justification is a change of my status in God’s sight; sanctification is a change of my heart and character.” (p. 56; both because of Jesus and ours through faith in Him)

Live in the words of Paul in Romans 8:32—

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us, how will he not also with him freely give us all things.”

Identity is the key to change. Who are you? Who has God designed you to be? How will you embrace His will in 2011, linking your little story to His Big Story?

 

Hello, fifth day of Christmas.

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Today is actually, with reference to history, the fifth day in the Twelve Days of Christmas, which begin in the Christian calendar on December 25th and extend through January 5th. This is followed by the Feast of Epiphany on January 6th (commemorating the visit of the magi in the Gospel narratives). My wife broke the tradition and celebrated the nearly two weeks leading up to December 25th as some gift recipients named a “stealthy Christmas angel ninja.”

C.S. Lewis had an interesting thought in an essay, “What Christmas Means to Me” (in God in the Dock, a compilation of essays on ethics):

“Three things go by the name of Christmas. One is a religious festival. This is important and obligatory for Christians; but as it can be of no interest to anyone else, I shall naturally say no more about it here. The second (it has complex historical connections with the first, but we needn’t go into them) is a popular holiday, an occasion for merry-making and hospitality. If it were my business to have a ‘view’ on this, I should say that I much approve of merry-making. But what I approve of much more is everybody minding his own business. I see no reason why I should volunteer views as to how other people should spend their own money in their own leisure among their own friends. It is highly probable that they want my advice on such matters as little as I want theirs. But the third thing called Christmas is unfortunately everyone’s business.

“I mean of course the commercial racket. The interchange of presents was a very small ingredient in the older English festivity. Mr. Pickwick took a cod with him to Dingley Dell; the reformed Scrooge ordered a turkey for his clerk; lovers sent love gifts; toys and fruit were given to children. But the idea that not only all friends but even all acquaintances should give one another presents, or at least send one another cards, is quite modern and has been forced upon us by the shopkeepers.”
[Source: Q Ideas]

What happened to the “Christ” in Christmas? Which “Christmas” are we talking about?

 

A song for the ages, about the King of Everything.

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Tonight we will sing a great hymn, a song for the ages, about the King of Everything:

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing [listen]:

Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled”
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is a worship hymn and Christmas carol written by Charles Wesley in 1739. Charles along with brother John Wesley was a founder of the Methodist church movement, birthed out of the Church of England (Anglican). The younger Wesley requested slow and solemn music for his lyrics and thus “Hark the herald angels sing” was sung to a different tune initially. Over a hundred years later Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) composed a cantata in 1840 to commemorate Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. English musician William H. Cummings adapted Mendelssohn’s music to fit the lyrics of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” already written by Wesley.

 

But . . .

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The greatest truths often come in simple transitions. Consider:

BUT NOW . . .

[19] Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. [20] For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
[21] But now [Νυνὶ δὲ, nuni de] the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— [22] the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [25] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. [26] It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
—Romans 3:19-26

BUT GOD . . .

[2:1] And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— [3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] But God [ὁ δὲ θεὸς, de Theos], being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— [6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
—Ephesians 2:1-10

 

Acclaim: Worship and Fame.

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“When you’ve had all the experiences – met all the famous people, made some money, toured the world and got all the acclaim – you still think ‘is that it?’” —George Harrison of the Beatles

Be Thou My VisionSome great reflections on worship as the antidote to idolatry by Jonathan McIntosh (parts 1 & 2).

A few ways to identify if we’re bought into the ‘god’ (idol) of personal acclaim:

  • Jealousy — Do you become easily envious of leaders who have more influence, a larger platform, or a bigger following than you?
  • Despair — When someone’s talent, level of attention, fame or power eclipses your own, does it practically affect your level of joy – even driving you to despair?
  • Self Absorption — Do you find yourself busily preening your public image, Googling your name, obsessing over how many times your sermons or songs have been downloaded, the number of hits on your site, or the number times you get retweeted?
  • Need for Credit — Is it hard for you when others get credit for something you deserve? Do you find yourself constantly needing to set the record straight, mak

A key point, in part two, on repentance and faith:

The antidote begins with worship – to give glory back to God.

Repent: Repentance in this case looks like giving back to God what is rightfully his: worship. Glory. Renown.
Believe: Believe that the glory that comes from God is better, richer, and more lasting than the transient glory that comes from man (John 12:43).

Repent: Be humbled as you realize you have attempted to use the ministry and gifts God has given you to pilfer from him the fame and renown that he and he alone deserves.
Believe: Be lifted up as you realize and experience afresh your unalterable identity as son or daughter of the King who died to make rebels and glory thieves his kids.

Worship to repent. Worship to believe.

Also, some practical suggestions on how to lead ourselves from a desire for personal acclaim to true worship of God:

If acclaim is your idol of choice:

  • Begin the day with worship. Don’t rest till your study, meditation, or prayer leads to adoration.
  • Command your soul to worship. Don’t wait for the music or the feeling. David did this multiple times throughout the Psalms, just look up “O my soul”.
  • Practice being more expressive. Shout, clap, dance. You have to retrain your body, mind, and soul. Learn again the language of adoration. This is a fight for your heart’s affection.
  • Memorize Psalm 16 (“In your presence there is fullness of joy.”) Psalm 42 (“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”) or Psalm 63 (“My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you.”)

A great place to start, right now, is to sing, pray, and meditate on these words from Be Thou My Vision:

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

Read on: