Walking In The Light

This morning I continued my study in the gospel of John. Today's passage was John 11:1-16, but the part that caught my curiosity was verses 9 &10:

"Jesus answered, 'Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in them.'"

As I read this, I became curious as to what Jesus was trying to teach. Here is what came from my further digging, and I pray that it ministers to you as it has me.

• Jesus claims in John 8:12 to be the light of the world.
• If He is the light of the world, then to walk in the day (which means light) means to walk in the light that Jesus gives.
• What is meant then by walking in the light? 1.) Walking in the light is walking in fellowship with Jesus; 2.) Walking in the light is following or obeying His Word.
• It is obvious then with this understanding, that to walk in the night means simply to walk apart from Jesus.
• What is meant then by walking in the night? 1.) Walking in the night is not believing in Jesus; 2.) It is not obeying His Word.

Central Theme: The evidence that an individual who claims to follow Christ is actually following Him, is whether or not he/she lives their lives in fellowship and obedience to Christ. In this passage the Pharisees wanted to stone Jesus for His claim to be God. These religious people thought they were righteous because of their heritage and knowledge of the law, but Jesus was saying that they were not righteous, because the light is not in them.

The application that I take away is, just because I do "spiritual things" and know a lot about "spiritual things", does not mean that I righteous. I am can only claim myself righteous, not by the works I do, but through the person (Jesus) that I know and who knows me. The result of this relationship is that I will live a life that is obedient to His Word.

Thoughts?

Eternal Life and Knowing God

I recently finished studying Hebrews during my personal study time, and began my journey through the book John. During this time, I also read the TableTalk for the day, and I began reading two books: Knowing God by J.I. Packer & Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul. I have to say that I am most excited about this time, and am learning a great deal through it.

I am a firm believer, but at times not a great practitioner, that pastors need to have a time in which they are pursuing communion with God and seeking to grow in holiness. I feel deeply that this time needs to be separate from their sermon preparation time, not because we don't grow as we wrestle with and sweat out the text because we do. However, I spend at least 20 hours a weak in sermon preparation just for our Sunday morning service. Yet, we still have Sunday night services and mid-week services at our church, and I have found that I can preach these services from the overflow of my personal time with God. This is not the purpose of my personal time, but is an outcome, along with growing in holiness and knowledge of God, of that time.

All this said, here is what I have been learning, and presented to my church last night.

We are told in John 3:16 that "whoever believes in him (the only Son of God) should not perish by have eternal life." If the gift of faith in Jesus is eternal life, then what is eternal life? We find from Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, that eternal life is "that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3)."

We can conclude then that eternal life is: A lifelong, both present life & eternity, journey of getting to know the One True God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

What then is meant by the word know? Is this implying that we know a bunch a facts about God? Is this speaking of knowing God in that we are saved?

I don't think that is all it means. I believe that to know God means: that we are pursuing to know God and to be known by God in an intimate relational way, that actually involves knowing God as you do a person.

J.I. Packer lists the following evidences that one knows God:

1. Those who know God have a great passion for God.
2. Those who know God have great thoughts of God.
3. Those who know God show great boldness for God.
4. Those who know God have great satisfaction in God.

We cannot know God apart from the study of Scripture. However, as we study Scripture, we are not merely seeking to learn a bunch of facts about a higher being, but we are so desperately seeking to touch and taste this glorious God, and be affected by the truths that we do learn. How are we affected by them? The Bible tells in Hebrews 4:12, us that the Word of God is active and living, and it's purpose is to transform the hearts and minds of the reader.

We can be assured that if we are pursuing this intimate relationship with God, we are encountering eternal life, not in its totality but we are getting a taste of greater things to come. We are experiencing the gift that is knowing God.

Mark Driscoll on Christian Meditation

Here is an excerpt from Driscoll's most recent post over at theResurgence on what 'Christian Meditation' is:

"Christian meditation is actively filling one's mind with scripture to hear from God and subsequently being transformed by God to effectively serve Him in the world.

Christian meditation is prolonged, focused, thoughtful, and prayerful deep thinking on the truths of who God is and what God has said and done according to Scripture."

I really needed this in my life today (and everday for that matter). So I highly encourage you to go over to his blog, and check it out for yourself.

Uncomfortable Message

I live and serve in the heart of the Bible-belt. I grew up here in a conservative God-fearing home for most of my life. I grew up in a very legalistic independent baptist church, where everything was wrong, except for what the pastor said was right. He was our moral authority, because he was the only one who could hear from God. This led to me being very closed minded and unaware of the deep truths found in God's Word, and the ability for me to experience this God firsthand. I was never aware that there was the capability to have a real, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. The only thing I could do was to quote certain scriptures that would defend the personal beliefs of a pastor that I knew very little about, but was told that he was following God's leadership. On a side note, I am not attacking the character or beliefs of one particular individual. I am attempting to attack something that is reigning so high in the Bible-belt at this time. This being modern day Pharisaic living.

Coming back to my home town after serving in the military and seeing my need for a deeper understanding of what living a life for Christ really looks like, I am deeply concerned for my community, because there doesn't seem to be this same concern in the lives of many of the churches and Christians around me. People are willing to fight to the stake over church tradition and personal preferences, but a lack of fight for sound biblical truths and doctrine. This reminds me of what we see in the Gospels that Jesus was facing when he was speaking to the Pharisees. He spoke to them with the prophetic words of Isaiah, "You honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me."

I see this being played out inside the churches of our community and in the lives of many good-intentioned Christians. People are capable of quoting Scripture to defend their traditions and personal preferences, but due to being uninformed they are unable to express what they believe and why they believe according to Scripture. In all fairness, this is not their faults, because this is what I was taught as well. Many just need to be given the permission to study and think freely for themselves. Many people need to be taught how to study Scripture and find out what the Bible really says about the Christian life.

It seems as though we are good and content with following laws (just as the Pharisees), but not so comfortable with actually being responsible for our own Christian lives and how we live them in accordance to Biblical truths. What I fear this leads to is what Jesus expresses in Matthew 7:22-23 "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and cast out demons in your name; and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'"

This is my fear because I believe that many have bought into a religious ideology, but haven't actually given their lives Jesus and made Him the treasure of their lives. I know this is not a popular topic and one that I could potentially receive a lot of ridicule for, but I have placed myself in this same post. It wasn't until recently (the past 3 years) that I have understood this more clearly. Being a Christian is not about me, but it is all about Jesus. Quite frankly, I don't believe that there is enough room for Jesus in many of our churches and our Christianity today. We need to to do as Paul says in Philippians 2:12, "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." I don't say this to cause fear, but to awake us from our slumber and begin following Christ and run quickly from religious stagnation. When Christ becomes the center of our lives, our churches, our religions, other things become more important. We start paying closer attention to our hearts and their motivations, and pay less attention to how we look and appear to others. I believe this is what is needed in order for a modern day reformation to break loose and our world to experience a great revival of the heart and spirit.

I humbly invite any thoughts on this subject. I truly believe this is something that not only pastors need to be discussing with each other and their congregations, but also this needs to be the topic of discussion between husbands and wives, parents and children, and friends. So feel free to add to this discussion, even if we disagree.

Desiring God Conference 2008

I am so excited that I can't possibly wait until September 26th. Along with my worship leader, John Burroughs, I am going to be getting on a plane and heading to Minneapolis, MN to a conference that I have always wished to go to. The Power of Words and the Wonder of God Conference is one of the many annual conferences that John Piper's ministry, Desiring God puts on.

I am excited to get to hear from many ministers and Christian leaders that I have long looked up to and have gleaned so much wisdom from. The line-up for this years conference is: John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Bob Kauflin, Sinclair Ferguson, Paul David Tripp, and Daniel Taylor. I am getting excited as I write this. I am not that familiar with Daniel Taylor, but it appears that he is the master of storytelling.

If you have the opportunity go over to the Desiring God website and check it out. It is going to be such a great time, and I am sure that I will be confronted with sin in my life and areas in my ministry where I need to improve. I am looking forward to both, due to the deep desire I have for personal growth as the pastor of a church, as a husband, and as a child of God. This is sure to be a time of great fellowship for John and I, but also a time for great spiritual growth in my own Christian life. Please be in prayer for our safety, as well as that we will be alert to the Savior's voice calling out to our souls for a closer relationship with the Father. May I become more satisfied with God, so that in turn, He will be most glorified with me.