It Is What It Is

Posted on March 10, 2010 in: Spiritual Growth, Thoughts

I had a complete physical last week.  I hate ‘em!  But they are important.  This week I got my results in the mail. Some things were good, others I needed to work on.  The deal with your physical results is that it is what it is. You can ignore it, dispute it, and even get mad at the Doc – but that usually won’t change the results.  The smart thing to do is take the data and make the necessary adjustments.

When God points stuff out to us through His Holy Spirit we can ignore it, dispute it, and even get mad at God, but that won’t change the results.  It is what it is. The smart thing to do is make the necessary adjustments to get our lives back in sync with God’s will for us.  After all, He knows what’s best for us.

Why is it sometimes we don’t like what God has to say about our lives?

A Tragic Loss

Posted on March 10, 2010 in: Men, Scripture, Students, Women

We’ve lost it!  I don’t really know when or where. I’m not saying it’s an issue that just happened in this generation. None the less we have lost it.

I do know the western world lost it a long time ago. The church held out for awhile, but eventually gave in to the culture and lost it too.

What did we lose? Modesty. The standards for modesty among Christian women have gone by the wayside in an ever increasing desire to fit in to the culture. As a result, our daughters have no standards of modesty. The immodest is judged to be cute by moms, while dads stand by and keep their mouths shut.

The Bible stresses the importance of modesty for Christian women.  1 Timothy 1:9  encourages women “to dress modestly, with decency and propriety…” I’m not suggesting women should wear burkas or veils.  I’m not advocating long skirts and no make-up.  I’m not even saying I can give you a list of what is modest and what is not.

I do think most people know immodesty when they see it.  I also think women should hold each other accountable on this one.  This is a woman to woman issue.  In fact, older women have the Biblical responsibility of teaching younger women the importance of modesty.

Even more importantly, it’s a dad-daughter issue.  It’s important for dads to teach their daughters the virtue of modesty.  Being the dad of a daughter, I know it’s tough and involves a lot of give and take.  But it is a crucial “dad thing” that must be done.

Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and the father of five daughters lists four guidelines for modesty in a blog post entitled “Whatever Happened to Modesty”. You might find them helpful.

  1. If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.
  2. If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.
  3. If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.
  4. If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

What do you think? Is modesty a lost cause or can we get it back?

No Prayer, No Power

Posted on March 9, 2010 in: Prayer, Scripture, Spiritual Growth

Here’s one of my favorite devotionals by John Piper.  It is from a book entitled “A Godward Life.”  Every time I read it I am convicted about the priority of my prayer life.

I rearranged my study at home, but I did not remove the prayer corner or the prayer bench. I made it more private. All I have ever read and experienced teaches me that deep spiritual influence for the good of sinners and the glory of God comes from men and women who give themselves to prayer and meditation. My longings often exceed my actions, I admit, but I will not give up without a fight, and making a place is part of the war effort.

I just read, for example, about the secret of Charles Simeon, who endured great hardships in his powerful fifty-four-year pastorate in Cambridge, England (1782-1836). His friend, R. Housman, stayed with him for a few months and tells us something of this man’s devotion: “Never did I see such consistency, and reality of devotion, such warmth of piety, such zeal and love…. Invariably he arose every morning, though it was the winter season, at four o’clock; and after lighting his fire, he devoted the first four hours of the day to private prayer and the devotional study of the Scriptures…. Here was the secret of his great grace and spiritual strength. Deriving instruction from such a source, and seeking it with such diligence, he was comforted in all his trials, and prepared for every duty.”

It is true for individuals and churches. No prayer, no power. Consider the story in Mark 9. The disciples had been unable to cast out an unclean spirit from an afflicted boy. Jesus came on the scene and cast it out. The disciples ask, “Why could we not cast it out?” Jesus answers, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer” (Mark 9:29, RSV). There are spiritual forces that Jesus says are very hard to overcome. His disciples asked why they could not overcome the evil. Jesus answered, “Insufficient prayer!”

What did he mean? Probably not that they hadn’t prayed over the demonized boy; it seems that would have been the first and basic approach. Probably he means that they had not lived in prayer. They had been caught in a prayerless period of life or a prayerless frame of mind. Notice that Jesus cast out the demon without praying: “You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again” (Mark 9:25, RSV). Yet Jesus had prayed. He lived in prayer. He spent whole nights in prayer. He was ready when evil came. But apparently the disciples had become weak and negligent in their praying, so they were powerless in the face of strong evil forces: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

In other words, without persistent prayer we have no offense in the battle with evil. Individually and as churches we are meant to invade and plunder the strongholds of Satan. But no prayer, no power.

The same is true of defense. Consider the words of the Lord to Peter, James, and John when they fell asleep in the garden instead of keeping up their guard on the defense against evil. “Watch and pray,” Jesus said, “that you may not enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38, RSV). If we are not vigilant, we will be ensnared by temptation. Our defense and our offense is an active, persistent, earnest, believing prayer force.

Let the example of Charles Simeon, the words of our Lord, and the chastisement of the disciples spur us on not just to periodic prayers, but to a life of prayer. As Housman said, to “a consistency and reality of devotion.”

Monday is for Random Ruminations

Posted on March 8, 2010 in: Long Hollow, Men, Missions, Prayer, Random, Thoughts
  • Great job last night by our LH worship folks!  They led us in an awesome night of worship!
  • Yes, Bert the sheep had an accident in the 3rd service.  Bless his heart.
  • Pray for our construction team headed out to Haiti on Friday to work on the orphanage in Jeramie. Find out more about LH efforts in Haiti here.
  • Tons of folks volunteered to mow yesterday.  Still not too late for you to sign up.
  • We’ll be talking about more volunteer opportunities in two weeks.  For more info about serving at LH click here.
  • Find out about small groups here.  Have I mentioned the importance of small groups before? :-)
  • SEC tourney this week in Nashville.  Who will win?  I’m picking Vandy!
  • How high will UT be seeded in the NCAA?  Depends on SEC tourney performance – some say as high as 3.
  • Have you eaten at Which Wich? I think Lance and Derek have eaten there 15 of the last 20 days.
  • I started watching the first season of “24.”  Its a little far fetched at times – but entertaining. However, I wouldn’t say I’ve drank the “24” Kool-Aid.
  • Today’s high is 67.  Wow!
  • Beech boys play at Hunter’s Lane tonight in the sub-state.
  • Tomorrow is our final morning session of Men’s Fraternity.
  • I’m craving a “Sloppy Joe” right now.

The Danger of Religion

Posted on March 3, 2010 in: Scripture, Spiritual Growth, Thoughts

Religion is a dangerous thing! It results in wrong thinking and wrong priorities. It exalts self by focusing on what you accomplish in your own efforts. It devalues people and values rules and systems. It undercuts grace and usurps God’s rightful place in our lives. There is an interesting story in Luke 6:6-10 that illustrates the danger of religion…

On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. 8But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

9Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

10He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored 11But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

If you notice, these religious leaders totally missed the miracle Jesus performed. Instead of rejoicing over this man’s healing, they were furious. Rather than worship Jesus, they sought to destroy Him. Why because He didn’t follow their man-made system of rules and regulations. You see, religious people are into:

rules instead of relationship…

performance instead of passion…

judgmental instead of joyful…

and legalism instead of love.

Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus that comes down to us by His grace. Rather than us working our way up to God, He has made a way for us. Our spiritual growth is not by works but by grace. I’m not saying there is not a place for spiritual disciplines and that God doesn’t have standards for us to live by. But these flow out of our love relationship with Jesus – not a have to thing but a want to thing.

Dump religion and embrace your relationship with Jesus.