Christian Geeks Unite

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Praying Scripture

In the newly formed women’s group for our church, we watched the movie War Room and talked about prayer. Several years ago I received a bookmark of Scripture-Based Prayers to Pray for Your Pastor, and I’ve used that regularly ever since. I’ve also collected other such prayers as I’ve read through the Bible. Here are some suggestions to get you started praying Scripture for yourself and others.

I pray that You will make ______ worthy of Your calling and that You may fulfill his/her every resolve for good and every work of faith by Your power, so that You may be glorified (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12).
I pray that You will fill ______ with knowledge of Your will in wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that he may walk in a manner worthy of You, fully pleasing to You and bearing fruit in every good work (Colossians 1:9-10).
I pray that ______ would put off the old self with its practices and put on the new self in Christ—kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Colossians 3:9-10, 12).
Lord, strengthen _____ by Your Spirit, that he would know the breadth and length and height and depth of Your love (Ephesians 3:16, 18-19).
I thank You for the faith of _____ and the joy and comfort he has been to me, and I pray that the sharing of his faith may aid others in knowing every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ (Philemon 4-7).
Father, thank You for ______ and his partnership in the gospel, and I pray that his love would abound more and more, with knowledge and discernment, that he may be filled with the fruit of righteousness (Philippians 1:4-5, 8-11).
I pray that You would make all grace abound to ______ that his needs may be supplied so that he may abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).
Sovereign Lord, I pray that You would keep ______ from stumbling so that You may present him blameless before God with great joy (Jude 24).
I give thanks for _______ and he work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in Christ. May he continue to be an example for others to follow (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3, 6).
Lord, enable _____ to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that his labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Let _____ stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God (Colossians 4:12).
I pray that ______ would know that You alone are his rock and salvation and fortress, that he will not be shaken (Psalm 62:2).
Comforter, I pray that _____ will be able to lie down and sleep in peace, knowing that You alone make him to dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8).
May ______ abide in You so that he may bear much fruit (John 15:4).
Lord, keep _____ from fear because You are with him. Let him not be dismayed, but strengthen him and uphold him by Your hand (Isaiah 41:10).

I’ve shared this link before, but it’s worth repeating. Nancy Guthrie gave this list of things to pray for in the midst of suffering. It is not always God’s will to heal or to remove suffering, but He will always use it for His good purposes.

To put God's glory on display (John 9:3)
To make the life of Jesus evident (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)
To live out genuine faith (1 Peter 1:6-7)
To cause us to depend on him more fully (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)
To reveal hidden sin or keep us from sin (2 Corinthians 12:7)
To experience that Christ is enough (2 Corinthians 12:9)
To discipline us for holiness (Hebrews 12:10-11)
To equip us to comfort others (1 Corinthians 1:3)
To make us spiritually mature (James 1:2-5)
To make us fruitful (John 15:2)
To shape us into Christ's likeness (Romans 8:29)
To share in the suffering of Christ (Philippians 3:10)

Perhaps this can refresh our efforts to pray for one another and see how God may answer.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Pursuing Holiness

CCEF recently posted this podcast on addictions with Alasdair Groves and Mike Emlet. They made several good suggestions in how to cope with addictive patterns and behaviors:

Recognize the triggers in your life—specific stresses that contribute to a desire to escape.
Walk in the light with others about how you’re struggling. “Sometimes we put just enough on the table to keep people from looking under the table.”
Fail well—using failure as an opportunity to turn away from sin and back to holiness, not minimizing sin or diving back into addiction.
Watch out for the “micro-steps” in the wrong direction—is my heart inclining toward sin?
Celebrate “micro-steps” in the right direction—changes in attitude and heart.

We all have some addictive tendencies (sin patterns) though they have varying degrees of intensity and consequences. I know my own “preferred sins” and I know many of the stresses that lead me to desire sin. I often think of a comment C. S. Lewis made in one of his letters that when he had made some progress against obvious temptations the devil then had to resort to “stratagems and ploys” to trip him up. Over time the ploys change, so we have to “be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 ESV).

“[What is] miserable is when we go for years and years in the bondage of sin and see no way out. Of course the enemy wants us to believe that ‘this is just the way I am’ or ‘this is the best I can hope for’ when in reality that is the furthest thing from the truth… Sin has a way of keeping us subdued and alone—even in a crowd—by threatening to expose us and humiliate us.” –Dennis Jernigan (Daily Devotions for Kingdom Seekers, Nov. 27-28).

“What a person needs is not an expert [on sin] but a friend to walk with them.” –Christopher Yuan

I think one of the biggest hindrances to the pursuit of holiness is the lack of close friends we can trust to keep us accountable and walk in the light with us. We all need a few such people in our lives.

Listening to Alistair Begg’s messages on Remorse or Repentance this week on Truth for Life, I pictured some people I know who seem to have fallen off either side of the narrow road. Some made a declaration of faith, but later withered away because they had no root (Matthew 13) and today are nowhere to be seen around the church. Others appear to be actively involved in ministry, but below the surface they are living in unrepentant sin. Both types of people are in danger of eternal judgment, and often only God knows their hearts. If they had maintained close relationships with strong Christians, they would have been much less likely to slide off the path.

May we be quick to repent to God and to a close friend, and may we be the kind of friends who can be trusted to listen and help those who are struggling.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Monday, November 19, 2018

Giving Thanks?

This is one of those times when I have to remind myself that Thanksgiving is not merely a humanly contrived holiday but is a command of God. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV).

Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving said in part:

“No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy… I do therefore invite my fellow citizens… to observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife…”

It is curious how we’ve turned the day away from thanking God for His divine mercy, and instead use Thursday and Friday for overindulgence and overspending. Quite honestly, I experience little enjoyment in the “holiday” that this has become. I would rather spend the day as a spiritual retreat (and I may well do that next year).

In an effort to refocus on reasons for gratitude toward God, here are a few reminders from Scripture:

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name; O Most High; to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night… How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep!” (Psalm 92:1-2, 5).

“I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:14).

“O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You; I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure” (Isaiah 25:1).

“But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7).

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4).

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature…” (2 Peter 1:3-4a).

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).

As we go through the next several weeks of Advent and Christmas, may we all be reminded of the blessings that are ours in Christ alone, and may we give thanks to Him every day.

“Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name” (Hebrews 2:15).

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Letters from Mugwort

I’m currently rereading C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters so thought I might add to the tradition of “advice from a devil.”

Dear Milquetoast,

As you are beginning your career and have been assigned your first patient, stick to the basics of what you’ve learned in Training College. There are a few principles to undergird your work, and these can often be inculcated through simple thoughts:

“I’m spiritual but not religious.” As the patient looks at the hypocrisy of Christians around him, he’ll begin to feel superior to them and believe he can do better on his own than in any kind of faith community. If he does happen go to a church, be sure to remind him of the flaws of those standing next to him. They don’t even have to be big issues—something as simple as singing off-key or wearing a stained shirt may be enough to distract him from the meeting. It doesn’t take much to discourage most people from attending church services on a regular basis. Also, don’t forget to suggest to him that the church is a place to go to and nothing more. Certainly don’t let him get too cozy with Christians who actually follow the Enemy. Small groups can be either helpful or harmful. It depends on who participates and what they do, so be careful there.

“The Bible is full of errors.” We don’t mind if a man reads the Bible occasionally, but we don’t want him to make a habit of it. It’s best if he reads it through a lens of scientific and philosophical criticism, and not with any desire to learn or apply the words of our Enemy. Provide him with biased reference materials so he doesn’t accidentally find any truth or accuracy in what he reads.

“My thoughts and prayers are with you.” While it is true (as Cousin Screwtape said) that we don’t particularly want our patients to pray, it is not always bad to allow them to pray provided their prayers are thoroughly vague and meaningless. Phrases like “be with them” or “bless them” are usually safe. It makes the patient feel righteous for “interceding” while giving no real benefit to the subject of his prayers.

“Forgive and forget.” This is one of those twisted ideas that Christians love to misapply, believing it to be the instruction of our Enemy. It is an excellent tool for heaping shame and guilt on those who have been hurt by someone else, when they find it hard to let go of the pain. The more you can get your patient to focus on his distressing feelings, the less likely he is to remember that forgiveness is a choice, not an emotion. It’s always helpful to stir up bad memories just when he starts to feel any charity toward the person who hurt him.

“God helps those who help themselves.” I’m not sure who first used this phrase, but a lot of people have tossed it around as being our Enemy’s words. The beauty of it is that it puts all the burden on the person to guide his own life, and he will make decisions based on what is best for himself, with no risk of him consulting our Enemy for direction. Throw in the occasional “blessing” to reinforce his choices, like receiving a promotion at work, and he will gladly keep himself at the center of his life. (A similar phrase, “God blesses those who serve him,” can similarly be warped to turn the patient toward self-righteousness.)

With careful application of these phrases and diligent watch over your man’s choices, you will soon be granted more patients to work with and more souls will add to your account. I expect great things from you.

Your mentor and cousin,

Mugwort

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Silence

After reading a biography of Fred Rogers, I just started reading The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers, by Amy Hollingsworth. The first chapter got me thinking about silence. In an interview with Fred Rogers he said,

“I think, for me, I need to be myself... And so, for me, being quiet and slow is being myself, and that is my gift... It seems to me, though, that our world needs more time to wonder and to reflect about what is inside, and if we take time we can often go much deeper as far as our spiritual life is concerned than we can if there’s constant distraction. And often television gives such constant distraction—noise and fast-paced things—which doesn’t allow us to take time to explore the deeper levels of who we are—and who we can become.”

Hollingsworth goes on to say:

“Yale psychologists comparing Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood to Sesame Street... discovered that children were better able to follow the stories on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood than the faster-paced, hip and hip-hopping world of Sesame Street. Another study concluded that Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood led to an increase in ‘tolerance of delay,’ meaning that children in the study who watched the program were more likely to be patient in waiting for materials or for an adult’s attention.”

Now I don’t have a degree in child development (though I do have one in Educational Ministries), but it seems to me that we need to take a step back and look at the world we are creating with our instant gratification and “always on” media. I’d say the vast majority of the Western world is overstimulated, and we are reaping the consequences in our schools and churches and families. Hollingsworth includes this quote from the demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood in C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, “We will make the whole universe a noise in the end.” I don’t think we are far off from that now.

Conversely, Scripture is replete with references to “be silent,” “be still,” and “wait.”

“Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent” (Psalm 4:4 ESV).
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted in the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10).
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him” (Psalm 62:5).
“But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him” (Habakkuk 2:20).
“Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near” (Zephaniah 1:7a).

As Christians, most of us would say we want to hear from God, and yet we make little effort to listen. We want our answers just a click away. Even our church services typically have very little space for silence. (I admit that when I’m preparing our sermon audio for the podcast, I typically shorten any pauses that are more than five seconds.) I was reading recently about the regulative principle of worship—that churches should not add anything to worship services that is not specifically permitted in Scripture (https://www.gotquestions.org/regulative-normative-worship.html). I think to some extent it is true that “simpler is better.” I won’t say that it’s necessarily bad for churches to project lyrics and Scriptures, or to use praise bands or accompaniment tracks, but it does concern me when some worship services are indistinguishable from concerts and other performances. Silence is one way of pointing people back to the reason for worship. When all the external noises are stilled, we have fewer distractions from the voice of the Holy Spirit who was given to “teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

In the noise of this world, it can be hard to find silence, and I believe the church is uniquely suited to providing that break from routine. Many families experience no silent moments unless the kids are asleep; however, kids need silence too. I believe the admonition in James to be “quick to hear, slow to speak” ought to be applied to all types of situations, not just potentially controversial conversations.

I remember an exercise during training to be a Resident Assistant in college. We were to go into a dorm room and respond to whatever scenario was presented. It happened that the room I got was a person who was upset about a difficult relationship. I didn’t really know how to respond, so I just listened to her talk. Afterward, the students observing (as well as the actress) said that even though they wanted to jump in and start talking, my silence was probably the best response in that case. How often do we really listen instead of jumping in with answers or reassurances? Job’s friends were at their best before they opened their mouths, and Job too had to learn to put his hand over his mouth.

My challenge for this week (and you’re welcome to join me) is to stop the noise. Take time away from the TV and internet to be still. Find a time and place to stop and listen for the “low whisper” of God’s presence (1 Kings 19:12). And then extend that listening to those around who just need to be heard.

“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Revelation 8:1).

Sunday, November 4, 2018

Watch Out!

I can’t help but write what’s on my mind, and at the moment that the problem of anger. A few miles away a teen shot and killed another teen at school last week. I recently thought I might have to break up a fight between two women in the Walmart checkout line. I’ve gotten to where I hate to drive, because either I’m angering other drivers or they are angering me. Anger is not just a problem in the world but in the church too. People say or do things that cause conflict, perhaps intentionally, but often unintentionally—failing to talk to someone, assuming too much, pushing a person out of a job, etc. The color of the carpet, the music, and budget allocations have been known to cause church splits. James wrote,

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:1-3 ESV).

I had always read James 4:2-3 as instruction on prayer, but nowhere does James say that. Rather, might he be saying that if you would talk to the other person you would find no reason to covet and quarrel? So many conflicts could be avoided simply by communicating better. Most of us probably don’t murder or fight, but we’re experts at snide remarks and angry thoughts. Jesus said that “everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:22). I doubt that anyone is innocent under those criteria.

The Apostle Paul wrote,

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these... Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:19-21a, 26).

I find it interesting that his list can almost be divided into two categories: lust and anger. I suspect that most pastors would also identify those as the two biggest areas of sin in their churches. The Apostle John summarized it this way, “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from that Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:16).

Anger doesn’t occur in a vacuum. There is always some underlying cause, and often there are related emotional triggers—pride or shame, fear, jealousy, desire, prejudice, or some combination of those. David Powlison said “sinful anger is an expression of your playing God according to James 4:12. Who are you if you judge your brother? Who are you if you speak evil of him? Well, you are God. You are acting as though you are lawgiver and judge.” We believe we are god of something, so we balk at being dethroned.

Thinking of a recent situation that angered me, I realize it was a result of 1) lack of clear communication of purpose and expectations, and 2) jealousy over losing control of something that I once believed to be my domain (along with some other tangential issues). Some explanation helped, but more necessary is an ongoing surrender of my rights to rule or to judge others who do things differently. I know the world would be better if everyone would just do things my way! God must say the same thing every day about the choices that we make and the ways we try to take over His throne. One day the King will come and remind us all Who is really in charge.

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom... But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:13, 17-18).

Friday, October 26, 2018

Blessed?

Many people like to use the hashtags #blessed or #soblessed when something good happens. I have no problem with that; however, a quick browse of those tags on Twitter reveals some alarming and even blasphemous comments. I will no longer assume that a person saying “I’m blessed” is necessarily Christian. I think there is a bigger issue at stake even among Christians who use the word “blessed” on a regular basis. Psalm 67 says,

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, Selah, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations… God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him!” (1-2, 7 ESV).

God doesn’t bless us just to make us happy. He blesses us so that He will be known to be God and people will turn to Him in repentance and faith. And God’s idea of a blessing is often far different from our own. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that the blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted (Matthew 5:3-10). When was the last time you told people you were #blessed that way?

Oftentimes, the greatest blessings of faith come through times of trial, pain, and suffering. It is when we are weakest that we realize our need for God, and His unfailing love is all the blessing we really need. Through suffering our faith can be strengthened, our lives can be purified, and our witness can be clearly seen. The Apostle Paul said, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses” (2 Corinthians 12:9b-10a). It’s been said that no one can claim that their faith grew most when life was easy and free from trials, “for the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3).

With that in mind, here are a few blessings in my life:

I am blessed with periods of depression, for then I remember that life isn’t about the pursuit of happiness.
I am blessed with times of loneliness, for then I see what the Body of Christ is intended to be.
I am blessed with singleness, for in isolation I learn to turn my attention to God and His Word.
I am blessed when God convicts me of sin, because I know it is by grace I have been saved and I’m being sanctified.

Through blessings such as these I am learning to hunger and thirst for righteousness and to pursue purity of heart, and one day I’ll receive the final blessing of seeing God’s face and being truly satisfied in Him.

By all means give thanks for the good things in life, but don’t forget the blessings of suffering as well. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Let’s look beyond the blessings of family, friends, homes, and jobs to the greater spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ alone.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:3-4a).