Fix Your Eyes

I’m in the midst of reading a couple books on prayer. In Pray Big: Learn to Pray Like an Apostle, Alistair Begg writes,

“All that matters may be brought before God, but what we bring before God is not always what matters most. When the eyes of our hearts are opened to our future, it changes our lives now—it reorders our priorities and our prayers. We pray less about the practical details of this life, and first and foremost about the spiritual realities of our eternal life” (29).

All too often we pray anemic prayers because we are distracted by the things of this world and we miss the things of eternity. That led me to think about what is most needed as churches gather together this Easter Sunday, perhaps with many visitors. The prayer I wrote in my journal included this: I pray that You will work in each of us to fix our eyes upon You as the author and perfecter of our faith... Let us not be distracted by words or music or flowers or people, but let us be captivated by Your glory.

After writing that down, I had to go back to Scripture to read the context of Hebrews 12:1-2 (NASB):

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

When I’ve read those verses in the past, I’ve always had this mental image of a marathon runner nearing the finish line, with crowds of people on both sides. In fact, the “cloud of witnesses” has dominated the picture. But the whole point is that we would fix our eyes on Jesus as our motivation for endurance. While the crowd can be encouraging, our eternal security depends on Christ alone. Don’t get me wrong—our relationships within the Body of Christ are important and will continue throughout eternity, but people can also distract us from what God wants to do in our lives and in others at any given time.

Easter Sunday may be especially prone to that distraction. Most churches have extra decorations and special music, people tend to dress up more than usual, and there may be unusual events planned. The intent is (hopefully) good—we want people to engage with the message of the Gospel. But I wonder if sometimes our extra efforts actually distract people from focusing on God. It can appear that we are working to promote our church rather than fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Easter is justifiably a celebration of all that we have because of Jesus’ resurrection, both individually and corporately. Beautiful decorations and music are entirely appropriate. However, if I’m honest, I prefer the solemn simplicity of the Good Friday service at my church. There are fewer parts and, for me, fewer distractions from the One we are there to worship.

An Easter sermon by John Henry Newman comments,

“At Christmas we joy with the natural, unmixed joy of children, but at Easter our joy is highly wrought and refined in its character. It is not the spontaneous and inartificial outbreak which the news of Redemption might occasion, but it is thoughtful; it has a long history before it, and has run through a long course of feelings before it becomes what it is… Accordingly, Christmas Day is ushered in with a time of awful expectation only, but Easter Day with the long fast of Lent, and the rigours of the Holy Week just past: and it springs out and (as it were) is born of Good Friday.”

For those of us who come from church traditions that generally ignore Lent and may not think deeply about Holy Week, his comments may seem foreign to us. We can appear to jump into the celebration of Easter without experiencing the depths of Good Friday. The Easter Sundays that have meant the most to me were those that followed serious contemplation of the cross, Jesus’ death, and my sin that nailed Him there.

Let us not rush forward to Sunday’s celebration without living through the darkness of Friday and Saturday.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross... Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 2:13-24, 3:2-3 ESV).

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Listen to Dennis Jernigan’s song, “It Was My Sin.”

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Shalom

I’ve had a particular anxiety that has been plaguing me primarily on Saturdays for a few months. As I was tossing and turning last Friday night, the thought popped into my mind, “Shabbat shalom!” Not being Jewish, that’s not a thought that often comes to my mind. It is a traditional Jewish greeting meaning “Sabbath peace.” It did not escape my notice that the Sabbath begins at sundown Friday and continues through Saturday. It reminded me that the peace of God comes from the God who is Himself peace. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-9 (ESV):

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus… Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.”

This Friday as the Jewish Passover begins, Christians will be observing Good Friday and remembering the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The disciples, who had run from the garden of Gethsemane, likely did not think of this as a day of Sabbath peace. They were probably filled with both sorrow and anxiety as they mourned their Rabbi and wondered what the future held. Little did they know that the God of peace was doing a new thing.

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14).

 “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him” (Colossians 1:21-22).

Through the horrendous death of Jesus, whom we recognize as the true Messiah, shalom was made possible for all who will believe in Him. Biblical shalom doesn’t mean just a peaceful state of mind or a lack of conflict, but of wholeness and well-being. Only by being reconciled with God are we made both whole and holy. Our deepest need is fulfilled in Christ alone.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it” (1 Thess. 5:23-24).

As we move through this Easter week, may we find shalom from the God of peace, whose love surpasses understanding.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

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Here is a short chorus that often comes to mind, “He Is Our Peace.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0dU5zcclRQ

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

A Change of Mind

I came across this quote in Sheila Walsh’s book It’s Okay Not to Be Okay. In regards to Romans 12:1-2 she says:

“You might be tempted to ask, ‘What’s wrong with my mind?’ You’re smart, well educated, and computer savvy, with endless information at your fingertips—quite different than the audience Paul wrote to. The problem is not a lack of information; it’s a lack of renewal. We live in a fallen world, which means our minds are fallen too. We were made to worship, but unless our minds have been renewed, we don’t worship God, we worship what we want. The question remains, How do you renew your mind? The word renewal found in Romans 12:2 occurs only one other place in the Greek New Testament [in Titus 3:5], and it gives me great hope that this process is not something you and I can do by ourselves. We can’t. We need the Holy Spirit.”

She’s right—we can’t renew our own minds. Another sermon, another Bible study, another Sunday school class won’t cause us to be “transformed by the renewal of [our] mind” apart from the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. As our pastor often reminds us, this is supernatural stuff we’re dealing with. We need to pray for ourselves and for our friends and family that God will do the work in our hearts and minds to make us receptive to His Word.

There are people who might be considered experts in the Scriptures. A recent book review on The Gospel Coalition raised the question of whether we can benefit from a non-Christian’s translation and commentary on the Old Testament. The answer is only to a limited extent. Without the work of God to connect us to the Messiah revealed throughout Scripture, all we are gaining is head knowledge. There are plenty of other people who struggle to read and understand the words in their Bibles, but they absorb all that they can because God has given them a thirst for Himself.

As we think about the programs and events we offer through our church, we need to bathe them in prayer, asking for the Holy Spirit to guide us to the right programs and the right message, but more importantly to work in the hearts of those who might attend. It is easy to get into a routine of doing the same things we’ve always done and not praying about it. We may wonder why people aren’t engaged in learning or why they seem so lackadaisical about their faith. But are we actually praying specifically for God to work in them? It doesn’t work to provide information without transformation by the Spirit. Certainly there are things we can do or not do that may facilitate learning, but the best teaching in the world will not change hearts or transform lives.

I’ve been convicted about this lately, because I can become judgmental about people who may not be at the same point in their walk with God. But as I look back over my own life, I remember the times when I was relatively disengaged from church and resistant toward where God was leading me. I had plenty of Bible knowledge, but it took a work of God to change my heart. Now I need to be reminded to pray for such a work in others’ lives.

So long as we are operating in our own strength and wisdom, we shouldn’t expect God to bless our efforts. I see an awful lot of churches that appear to be just going through the motions without really seeking God’s will and without praying for God’s work in individuals. Our fruitfulness is dependent on God’s power. Let us be diligent in praying for hearts and minds to be transformed and for lives that will abide in the Vine.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 ESV).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Dismembered

I’ve been reading an interesting fiction book Daughter of Time, by Sarah Woodbury, about a twentieth century woman who finds herself in thirteenth century Wales. At one point she is comparing social interactions between the two cultures, and she says of the twentieth century:

“As a rule, you’d never look at or talk to a person you didn’t already know—whether on the street, at a meal, or in a shop. Everybody behaves as if they are completely alone, even when—or especially when—surrounded by a crowd… Because chances are, you’ll never see any of those people again. It isn’t worth the time and effort invested… It’s because we don’t depend on each other anymore” (204).

That seems to me to be an apt description of our culture and, unfortunately, even many of our churches today. I was reminded of what we’ve been discussing in Sunday school about the Israelites preparing to enter the Promised Land. Obviously they had to work together to conquer the land, but there was more to it than that. From the time of the Exodus and the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai, the people had to gather together regularly to hear the word of the Lord and hear the law explained. They didn’t have written copies of the Scriptures in every household. Worship and sacrifices had scheduled times and places. Their religious experience was communal, not individual.

Western culture today has made everything individualized. We all have access to multiple Bibles, commentaries, studies, sermons, podcasts, and other media that make it easy to “do religion” without ever interacting with another person. Yet that was never God’s intent for the Body of Christ. We can tend to resemble a bunch of scattered parts rather than an assembled body.

One of my jobs for the denomination is to compile the statistics submitted on church reports. It has long been the case that out of all the church members reported in our denomination, only about 64% are considered active members, and only about 60% are attending regularly. (However, I will say that we don’t have consistent definitions of member, active member, or attendance.) In some churches, only 20-30% of those listed as members are actually attending. Our denomination is not alone in this. An article on Christianity Today comments “Today, if ten people become church members, average attendance grows by five or six.” That article refers to an article by Thom Rainer that is both compelling and convicting. He offers five reasons church attendance is declining:

1) We are minimizing the importance of the local church.
2) We worship the idols of [personal and family] activities.
3) We take a lot of vacations from church.
4) We do not have high expectations of our members.
5) We make infrequent attendees leaders in our churches.

It can be depressing to see the trends and wonder what we can do to change them. It has become apparent to many leaders in many churches that our first responsibility is to pray. We must pray for God to work in the hearts of those who have walked away from the church (or even from the faith). We must pray about our own priorities and submit them to God’s will. We must pray about who we will put into leadership positions, and then continue to pray for them once they are there. We must pray for our church leadership to put God’s glory above all others things and to seek His will in all decisions. “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed” (John Bunyan).

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 ESV).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Firmly Planted

I find it encouraging and instructive to read through the book of Psalms on a regular basis. The following are a few thoughts from Psalm 1.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers” (v. 1, ESV).

There is a progression in this verse from walking to standing to sitting. A person can get increasingly comfortable with sin in their life if they aren’t actively pursuing righteousness. Christians need to be cautious when they start looking at the path of sinners. It is all too easy to drift away. “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night” (v. 2).

How many churchgoers can honestly say that they love God’s Word? How many actually spend time in it during the week? The person who doesn’t know the Word can’t delight in the Word, and can’t truly know if they are walking in the counsel of the wicked or standing in the path of sinners. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (v. 3).

The believer who is watered by the Word of God will prosper by bearing the right kind and amount of fruit in the right season. We are not identical seeds, but parts of a body with specific functions. “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:23).

 “The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away” (v. 4).

Rather than being deeply rooted and laden down with fruit, the unrighteous have no spiritual substance. They drift away into pursuits that may entertain them for a while, but one day will cause eternal regrets. “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it… How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1, 3a).

“Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous” (v. 5).

Many of those who will not stand in the judgment are those who have already ceased to assemble with the Body of Christ on a regular basis. Today’s choice to skip the church gathering may become tomorrow’s choice to turn their back on the church entirely. “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22).

“For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” (v. 6).

The one who started out by walking in the counsel of the wicked and standing in the path of sinners goes on to drift away on the wind and perish with the wicked. The consequences of carelessness and inattentiveness can be deadly. I pray that all those who claim to be Christians would pay attention to the path ahead of them and would turn back if they are starting to drift away. I also pray that all who are rooted and grounded in Christ will do everything in their power to warn those who are headed down the wrong path. Only God can change hearts, but He may well use us to stir the consciences of loved ones who need to wake up.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Penny Wise

There is a big push toward churches providing automated giving options via credit card, direct deposit, and similar methods. I understand that people like the convenience it provides, so they don't have to remember to do anything. But as I read Scripture, I don't see any indication that giving tithes and offerings should be easy or convenient. Deuteronomy 12:5-7 (ESV) says,

“But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name and make His habitation there. There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.”

Throughout the Old Testament the Israelites were reminded that there were very specific ways and specific places where sacrifices and offerings could be made. Granted, we no longer live under the Old Covenant and we don’t have to comply with all those regulations; however, the general principle remains that as we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength that should be evident in our priorities, including how we use our money for God’s glory. “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God” (Exodus 23:19a).

I don’t want to create unnecessary rules, or condemn anyone for their method of giving. I simply raise the following questions that have helped to shape my own thinking in this area. If I don’t have to think about the act of giving because I’m not taking time to write a check or get cash from the ATM—

• Am I less likely to be reminded to thank Him for His provisions for me?
• Will I be less conscious of giving Him of my “firstfruits”?
• Will I be a better or worse steward of the funds I have?
• Am I likely to start thinking of my tithe the same way I think about the taxes that are deducted from my paycheck?
• What do my actions tell my children (or spiritual children) about giving?
• Will an automatic deduction cost my church more in fees?

Speaking from my own experience, I need the act of writing a check every week to be part of my routine. It is a reminder to me that what I have is not my own. It is a gift of God and out of gratitude and obedience I give a portion to the church for His work through our body. During one period of my life I decided to write checks less frequently because I was not paid every week, but I found I was more likely to forget to do so, and also less likely to make sure I had the funds in the right account to cover it. Giving more frequently is a spiritual discipline I practice for my own good.

Obviously every person is different, and what works for some doesn’t work for others. It’s better to give whatever way you can than to quit because it’s too much trouble. God alone knows our hearts and our priorities.

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Walk with Me

Lately it seems like quotes from Fred Rogers pop up on Facebook every week. Perhaps that’s because there have been some new biographies released in the past couple years. In the past few months I’ve read The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King, as well as an older biography, The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers by Amy Hollingsworth. One comment he made often in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was “I like you just the way you are.” I have a lot of respect for Fred Rogers and his legacy, and I remember watching him when I was little (and not-so-little).

However, I have to wonder about what I call the “Mister Rogers’ mentality” that seems prevalent among many Christians. By that I mean the idea that God loves us just the way we are and does not ask us to change. Some sectors of the church have drifted into a kind of universalism that accepts any kind of lifestyle and refuses to call anything sinful. There are those who cling to John 3:16, “God so loved the world…” and yet ignore the context:

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God… Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (19-21, 36 ESV).

God sent Jesus to proclaim His love and redeem us out of sin, not to leave us in our sinful ways. As someone said (and has been attributed to various people), “God loves us the way we are, but too much to leave us that way.” The Apostle Paul wrote:

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5).

“Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).

God loves us unconditionally, but He also expects us to change. By His grace and mercy we can turn from sin and learn to overcome temptation. This sanctifying process will not be finished in this lifetime, but if we are not seeing any progress over time we should be concerned. That’s one of the main reasons we are to be active members of a church that recognizes its responsibility to the Body of Christ. We need those in our lives who will “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

We all need people who will remind us that they love us no matter what stupid thing we’ve said or what sinful thing we’ve done. But if they truly love us, they should also be willing to admonish us for the patterns of sin they see in our lives. Some have said that love which is not expressed is not love. I would expand that to say that love which does not confront is not love. You may tell me, “I like you just the way you are,” but I hope there are some who will also say, “I love you too much to not point out this sin.” And ideally those same people will say, “Let me point you to the Savior and walk beside you as we both grow in faith and obedience to Him.” I know a few people like that, do you?

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.