Mark Batterson: The Best Decision I Made...

I have been following Mark Batterson's blog for some time. Although, we would disagree on a number of levels theologically, I have been encouraged and challenged by much of his writing. His new article for Catalyst serves as a great reminder to all of us on the importance of a daily intake of God's Word.

He says,

If you want to grow spiritually, you need a consistent diet of Scripture. In fact, you will never outgrow your consumption of Scripture. There is no substitute. There is no supplement. The poet, T.S. Eliot, once observed: “Everything we eat has some effect upon us. It affects us during the process of assimilation and digestion; and I believe exactly the same is true of anything we read.” In other words, you are what you read.

I have a saying that I repeat to our congregation frequently: reading without meditating is like eating without digesting. If you want to absorb the nutrients, you can’t just read it. You’ve got to chew on it. You’ve got to digest it. Meditation is the way we metabolize Scripture.

I find this very encouraging and challenging, and I would encourage you to go read his article here.

Does God Desire That All Should Be Saved?

Paul, when speaking about praying for leaders and rulers, says in 1 Timothy 2:3-4 -

"This is Good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth."

The question that came to mind as I read this is: Is it God's desire that all people (everyone who has ever lived or will ever live) to be saved?

If this portion of Scripture means that God's desire is that all people get saved, then doesn't that notion imply then that God's desired plan has failed when people reject him and are sent to hell? Can sin and creation somehow have power over the will of God? Can man's "free will" somehow overpower the will of God? If so, then we are serving a God who we can control and whom we can manipulate. What kind of God is that?

As we read this passage of Scripture, it is important for us to look at the context with which the writer is writing. Since he is exhorting the people to pray for their leaders and their salvation, instead of worshiping them, we can conclude then that what is meant by "all people" should be understood as "all kinds of people." This means that God is not a respecter of persons. In God's eyes, kings and servants are the same. It is God's desire to see a diversity of people come to know him.

Calvin says that God's desire for the salvation of all "means there is no people and no rank in the world that is excluded from salvation." However this doesn't somehow imply a universalism of salvation, but says that salvation is for all types of people: any race, any economic status, any denomination, etc.

Above all this, there remains one thing that God desires more than people's salvation, that being His Own Glory (Is. 48:11). R.C. Sproul says,

"The Lord is glorified when sin is punished in hell and so God's supreme desire is met even when people are not redeemed."

What is the application here for our lives? We must understand our role in this. We are not God, but are called to imitate Christ. We are to be very careful in this imitation, because we don't know the hearts of people. We are commanded to spread the message of the gospel with words, and show how those who have been transformed by such message, by our actions.

Belief in the sovereignty of God is not meat to stifle evangelism, but meant to fuel it. Meaning, when we understand that we are not in control of the "results" of evangelism, and will not be judged on results, it allows us freedom to proclaim the gospel to all, while trusting that God is in control of the transformation of the hearts.

In what ways are you/or are you not fulfilling the call to spread the message of the gospel? When you do share the gospel with others, are you trying to manipulate them to get the result that you want, or are you relying on the God to do what he does in the hearts of people?

Thoughts?

James 3: A Story

Every Christian should watch this video, and will probably need to repent when it is over.




(via Desiring God)

Seeking Our Glory Instead Of God's Glory

Over the past couple of years, I have seen a trend in Christians and churches: seeking their own glory, instead of God's. An example of this can be seen in many churches mission statements and how they approach ministry. They say look at us, look at what we are doing over here...leave your church and join ours, because we are most effective. Churches are measuring their effectiveness on growth, not spiritual growth but numerical growth. It seems as though busyness equates to holiness now. What is the deal with this self-centered, self-glorifying method to ministry and the Christian life?

I heard someone today say that their church is effective because they are the only church in their area that has a billboard and ministries for each age group. Is this really what we have come to in measuring the effectiveness of our church...a billboard? This is very disturbing to say the least. Where does God fit into all this busyness? Are we calling people to Jesus as the treasure of their life, or are we calling them to Jesus to buy into another product? The question I have and continue to ask is, 'Is there room for Jesus in our Christianity anymore?'

The Bible tells us that everything was made by Him and for Him...for His Glory, not ours. It seems as though the Western church has bought into this idea of consumerism and have adopted a business ideology for how we do church. Jesus has now become a product that we sell to people, instead of being the Lord and Savior of their lives. We sell them the idea of Heaven as the goal of salvation, instead of God Himself. We don't ask people to come and follow Christ, and follow through with the discipleship process. We instead ask them to accept Jesus and get heaven. We create a church environment that is comfortable for Christians and is effective on giving them a false sense of holiness.

In the end, we have failed to seek God's glory in how we live our lives and conduct our corporate worship services. In essence we are saying to Jesus, 'You are not enough, what you did on the cross wasn't worth it, we need something more.' This is devastating to the church and more importantly robbing God of what is rightfully His, all the glory and honor. How do we move away from this self-serving, self-righteous, self-centered ideology? How do we reclaim lives that long to seek to be satisfied with who God is and has done through Jesus, and seek to bring Him the most glory in how we live our lives? How do we stop calling people to come and look at our churches, and point to the cross and say 'Look at my awesome, mighty, and holy Savior'? It is in the best interest of followers of Christ and the church to turn back to the cross and repent of our religiosity and gain back our total focus on the glory of God. It is rightfully His, and He will pour out His judgment on those who try to take it away from Him.