OK, that last line may be a little cheesy but hopefully you understand the point I am trying to make. Spiritual growth also follows these principles of growth that God has set for his creation. What we see so well in our lives is that there are seasons of little growth, rapid growth, slow growth, seasons of rain, as well as seasons of dryness. With my yard, what I could not see happening (the seed germinating) resulted in growth. Could I tell what the seed was doing? No. But my task was to be faithful to feed and water the yard in order to allow the growth to take place. If I did not water the seed every day, the growth would not have taken place as it did.

One of the aspects that we must understand about growth is the principle of time. The fact is, we want immediate results. Our culture is one built around speed, microwaves, and high speed internet. We want what we want and we want it yesterday. But spiritual growth doesn’t work that way. It follows the principle of growth that 2 Peter 3:18 tells us, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  What we see is that as we grow toward maturity in the grace and knowledge of Christ, we can understand and rest assured that as Philippians 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will bring it into completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Our task is to remain faithful and to remember 1 Corinthians 3:7, that “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives growth.”
-Billy

Recently, while I was on the internet, a particular blog caught my eye. This discovery, which turned out to be one of my finer blogging moments, led me to a series of conversations with myself regarding the validity of the follow statement: “Modern education, with its emphasis on humanities and literature, was built upon an economy that worked differently. It was meant to educate the elite, rather than the middle class. Today, it hardly serves the middle class, because having a degree in English or philosophy hardly prepares you for any sort of decent-paying job…” The context of this blog was centered on the middle class evolving as a result of technology and robotics. Whereas many disagree with the contents of this blog, I decided not to judge it too quickly and instead, I decided to take the time to really try and understand what the author was trying to say. As I continued to think about the blog, a concern began to develop within me. Even though the point of me writing this blog has nothing to do with middle class technology or robotics, I feel the idea that humanities and literature has become less important is still relevant.

In a world where technology has become center stage, it would seem fitting for other genres to adapt themselves to keep up with the mainstream. Over the years, the internet has adapted by providing mankind with blogs, chat rooms, Twitter, Facebook status’s and e-books. All these developments offer any person an opportunity to contribute their thoughts to the world at large. The disappointing truth of these advancements lies in the reality that if we are not careful, these advancements can lead us away from not only the art and beauty of a written word, but also away from the thoughts and meditations of the heart that are communicated on those pages. Sadly, writers today have to adapt as well. Their challenge lies in trying to find ways to appeal to generations where reading books is being replaced more and more by television, computers, internet, etc. Is it possible that we are losing something valuable by adapting with the culture rather than spending a little extra time reading a book, especially one that might be more than 150 pages? Why is it some of the only books we pick up to read are the required readings assigned to us by a professor? Is there something to this that might have greater spiritual implications for us?

When we find ourselves only reading the thoughts of someone else, books that we can breeze through in a couple of days, or we fail to even finish most books we begin because we lose interest, then we cater to our lazy flesh. Our flesh is satisfied with getting by and knowing just enough about something or someone. It does not surprise me that there are not enough believers spending time laboring in the Scriptures when the world around us is telling us to solely spend time seeking out the lifestyles, ideas, and thoughts of those around us. How great would it be if we spent more time reading about the great men and women in the Bible who finished their journeys strong rather than consuming ourselves with just the thoughts and ideas of others around us and clinging to their words as golden?

So where does all this lead? I have said all this to say that we are indeed privileged to live in a time where so many can voice their opinions and life stories, but we mustn’t forget that all positive advances may have equally destructive consequences when not handled with discernment and self control. If we are not careful, we could all fall prey to the world’s enticements and become shallow thinkers, lazy students of God’s beautiful Scripture, and ignorant of all the individuals who have penned truly life changing stories. What a tragedy it would be for us to become blind to their inspiration and challenges to be like them as they modeled Christ. Are the results of our efforts to be modern and relevant to the rising generations portraying the negative message that the literature of old and even the beautifully scripted hymns that have stemmed from inspiring, real life experiences have become irrelevant in today’s society? I would argue that the greatest, most impacting written words are those contained within the Bible. Unfortunately, the Bible has come to be considered by many as a mere text or simply a philosophy book by others. What is even more alarming is the reality that rather than expending ourselves to the task of a deep and thorough reading of the Scripture, the Bible is being replaced in the library of many Christians with commentaries and other books by men and women who have penned their thoughts. The Bible is the only source we have where we can hear about the unsearchable riches of Christ as we actually sit at the master’s feet and listen to our Great Teacher bare witness to the truth of Himself.

If the above statements are true and humanities and philosophies are becoming less desirable and not necessary in today’s culture, we must then ask ourselves if this will cause our culture to lose its zeal to become like the great men and women who have painted the pages of our history and biblical heritage? Or maybe the question we should be asking ourselves should really be whether or not we will choose to follow this new trend or instead seek to honor God by instilling in today’s generation and the generations to come that which disciplines and shapes us into men and women of God. We must never forget that we are image bearers of the One True God. Everything we choose to do reflects His love and His Son. If and only if He remains the center of our lives can we truly enjoy the blessings of modern technology while not succumbing to its pull.

Heather Hood

How we spend our time will outwardly mirror our inward desire to be either managers or owners of the time God has given us. If we choose to be owners of God’s time, we will find ourselves increasingly hoarding time for ourselves rather than using the time God has given us to further His kingdom. During our studies on stewardship, I remember being rather convicted about the use of my time, particularly regarding the amount of time I had been spending in prayer. I have come to realize that if I spent as much time in prayer as I often do on other things, my life would look vastly different. Even good things can become a hindrance if they take precedence over what is truly important to God in my life. Discipline is key, and I have to daily discipline myself to see that wasted time, especially time wasted on myself, is a sin.

The act of stewardship does significantly revolve around how we spend our time, talents, and treasures, but I do not think the discussion of stewardship needs to stop with these three areas. As you may have guessed by the title of this blog, another type of stewardship has been on my mind: relational stewardship. I have to give Jillian the credit for first mentioning this concept to me. Our discussion regarding relational stewardship developed while we were out walking one day and discussing the idea of being good stewards of the relationships God has given us. This includes relationships with believers and non-believers alike. Through the course of our discussion, questions began to stir in our minds.  We began asking ourselves “are we aiding in the progress of the gospel in the life of _______?” The second question we asked ourselves was even more difficult to digest: “are we doing as much as we could be doing?”

I believe that relationships are gifts from God that must be stewarded. It is imperative that we assess the consistent and sporadic relationships God has brought into our lives to see if are doing all we can to model Christ and direct others to Christ through our relationships. Am I praying for my friends and co-workers? Am I sharing the gospel with the lost people I know? Am I yielding to the Spirit so that my life can be used to advance the gospel in the lives of those closest to me? This is a very different way to reflect on relationships, but I think it is very helpful. Relationships are like time, money, and even talents; you have them for today, but no one knows when that relationship could be stripped away by death, fallout, geographical move, etc; therefore, take every step to be a good steward today. Chad has been challenging us to really meditate on what it looks like to seek the Kingdom first. I think this is a good place to start.

Corey Reeder

I read a tweet the other day and it didnt set well with me. I am usually not hypercritical and try to be gracious. My reaction stunned me.  I really believe my reaction was so adverse because what I read in that tweet was not true and that was disturbing. (What disturbed me even more is that I accidently re-tweeted it myself!!)

A very influential pastor/speaker (with over 8000 Twitter followers) said the following and I quote,

“Religion: doing the right things with the wrong heart”

First, in humility…J, let me say that this statement is wrong.  To the person’s credit, I do not know the context in which the statement was said. (One of the dangers of Twitter and other micro blogs)  Therefore, I can only speak to what was said in the tweet.

The statement is wrong on two counts:

First, according to definition:

The definition of “religion” according to Merriam-Webster is,

1. 1. the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2. 2. a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3. 3. archaic : scrupulous conformity :
4. 4. a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith[1]

According to the main definition of the word, “religion” is in short order devotion to God or a god. In the Christian context, it is devotion to the One True and Living God.

If one were to read, Andrew Murray, A.W. Tozer, George Muller, Spurgeon, E.M. Bounds, JC Ryle (you get the point)…they would use the word “Religion” in this manner.  For these men of God, this word speaks of service and devotion to God.

Granted, they would also speak of “vain religion”, or “useless religion” in the context of being hypocritical. This may have been what the author of the above stated quote was meaning. I hope that is the case.  Maybe it could be better stated in the following manner:

Religion: is worship and service to God

Hypocrisy: doing the right things with the wrong heart

The second reason the statement is wrong is that it is not indicative of Scripture. True Religion is stated in James 1 as… “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” For the sake of brevity, let me sum it up. Love, care, and give to those who cannot return anything to you and to live righteously before God.

This type of “religion” is the right heart doing the right things. This religion glorifies God. This religion comes from a heart that exemplifies Jesus Christ and is to be the heart of every believer.  “Religion” does not have to be dead, hypocritical institutionalism. In Fact, according to Scripture, religion is to be alive, vibrant, and powerful expression to God in response to what He has done in, for, and through us.

To say “religion is doing the right things with the wrong heart” is an overreaching statement of the first sort.  Let us be careful to not use language out of context and let us be careful in trying to be pithy and relevant. The Gospel is always relevant because man will always be in need of it. Let us communicate it in an understandable way while always proclaiming the Truth of the Message.

God help us all to be “religious” in the James 1 way!

P.S. I respect this pastor greatly and I believe that He loves Jesus. He is making a difference in the world…I only write this because I believe it was statement that needed clarifying. Let us be careful of what we “write” because it may not be “right” and it will lead others to think wrong. ch

The how of our time spent in corporate worship has always been the aspect of worship that gets people up in arms. We have all cultivated our own ideas regarding how worship should be held. Mostly, concerns arise regarding what musical styles should be used in worship. Should the music be traditional, contemporary, a mixture of both, or something entirely different? Some people like the worship style of Chris Tomlin’s music while others might prefer to sing worship songs written by Hillsong. Some might still prefer to worship God with good ole hymns. Other questions that arise circulate around how we set up the music portion of a worship service. Howdo we participate together? Should the lights be dimmed? Should there be moving backgrounds on our display screens behind the lyrics of a song? Is it just “Jesus and me time,” or is there something bigger happening when we gather together to worship our God?

It’s clear throughout Scripture that God is a particular God who seeks particular worshippers (Nelson, Authentic Worship). Nelson offers his readers this working definition of worship that serves as a great starting point to categorizing the particulars in our worship:

Worship – the human response to the self-revelation of the triune God, which includes:

1)     Divine initiation in which God graciously reveals Himself, His purposes, and His will;

2)     A spiritual and personal relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ enabled by the ministry of the Holy Spirit;

3)     A response by the worshiper of joyful adoration, reverence, humility, submission, and obedience.

Worship begins with God, and we need to realize that our worship should naturally manifest itself as a response to His self-revelation, which happens through His Word. The Bible is how God has chosen to give us the specifics about who He is, so it must have a prominent place in our worship; therefore, the how of our worship together must contain the Word of God. It is imperative for us to also understand that only those with a spiritual and personal relationship with God can actually worship Him. The third facet of Nelson’s definition has a lot to do with the how of our worship. Scripture tells us that the following list is some of the various (and proper) responses to God: joy, adoration, reverence, humility, submission, and obedience. Joy, because God has brought you out of darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9); adoration, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19); reverence, because of His holiness (Exodus 15:11); humility, because this response leads to the grace and salvation of God (Psalms 149:4); and submission, because  as believers we are to submit to God’s will for the fullness of a holy life (James 4:7).

The how of worship has more to do with our personal and corporate response to God rather than what songs we sing or how the room we are worshipping in appears. It should mostly resemble the characteristics summed up in Nelson’s third point. The how of worship is a right heart before God. It involves you letting yourself be impacted by the greatness of God and His love for you. It is being spiritually free to respond to God as the Holy Spirit would lead you. The how of worship should not be evident only during the music and preaching and a worship service, but it should encompass every aspect of your life. This week, let’s worship with our lives and see what the Lord will show us when we meet together.

Brad Cleveland

you can contact Brad at brad@cleveco.org

or follow him on twitter: bradtothebone

The Great Commission: The calling of our Lord upon our lives to spread the truth, love, and salvation found in Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.

As believers in Christ, we often embrace the Great Commission by traveling to places around the world that force us to live a week or two out of our so called “comfort zone.” We often seek out different cultures that worship different Gods and speak different languages. We spend weeks in preparation raising money, holding meetings, and gathering as groups of believers to pray specifically for God to use us in a mighty way while we are in the mission field striving to expand His Kingdom. We embark on our journey and experience a whirl wind of emotions and experiences as we seek to fulfill God’s calling in each of our lives. Then, for the most part, when all is said and done, we are never fully ready to leave when our trip has come to an end. More often than naught, we feel as if there is so much more work left to be done. We must leave, however, but we leave these foreign places with a different, more energized passion for serving God.

The question I have is “Why?” Why do we really go? Why are we so willing to spend a few thousand dollars and often our vacation time for a couple of weeks spent serving others? Why do we spend so much time in preparation to help ensure everything is in order for the trip? Why do we get together and pray devotionally as a spiritual family before we leave? These are all exceptional questions, but these are not the questions I am want answered.  The “Why” I want answered most is “why do we come back from these trips with a greater passion for God and for serving others than the passion we had initially before we even began?”

If we find ourselves having to travel to a desperately lost part of the world to kindle a flame in our souls and experience the joy found in serving God and spreading His good news, what does that say about the way we live out our faith at home? Is our “homebound” faith or our form of Christianity truly displaying the form of Christianity God has called us to take to all the nations? The raising of funds, the giving of our time to take the message somewhere else, the hours of prayer, the time spent in preparation for the trip are all great things, but why do we often not do them as diligently here in our local mission fields as well? Have we masked our faith with the American culture so much that people no longer see Christ in the Christian? Is Christ now most evident in our lives to others and even to ourselves only when we go to a different culture?

I know I am guilty of getting more excited about sharing the gospel in a different part of the world than I often am about sharing the Gospel in my own, familiar culture such as places like downtown, work, or across the street. I know the form of Christianity I often live out is not the form I need to be spreading around the world. But change is possible with God, and it starts with letting go of our desires, our wants, our dreams, and our time. When we replace “our” with “God‘s,” then we will find our hearts burning with a passion to serve God. We will live out life as individuals who are thankful to be saved and who truly understand the magnitude of the payment that our Savior bore on the cross. Hopefully then, we will be recognized as people who love Jesus above all else. But this change should take place and develop here where we live and not wait to start when we step outside our familiar comfort zone. Right here is where the fire begins. Right now is when the journey starts.

Ryan Cutright

The idea of making disciples seems to be gaining speed in evangelical circles and rightly so. With the focus on numerical growth over the past 20 years there has been a rise in the number of mega churches. But what we have now seen is that numbers do not make a healthy church. Healthy members make a healthy church regardless of the size of that church. Healthy members are ones who are challenged to grow deeper in their walk with Christ and who are taught to “to observe all that” that Jesus has commanded

Not only are we to lead people to Christ, but also we are to teach them to observe and obey the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to help them understand what it means to follow Him and most importantly love Him.  We understand according to Scripture that we are to make disciples of all the nations…”

So the real question for me is…”can we make disciples if we are not willing to be disciples?”  Am I willing to follow Christ, to surrender my life to Him? Am I willing to deny myself, take up my cross and then follow HIM?  If not then what business do I have thinking that I can go and make disciples.

If we are not willing to be disciples of Christ then where are we leading people. I would say that we are leading them to a contemporary cultural Christianity that is devoid of surrender and devotion to Jesus Christ.  It is a Christianity that engages in acts of kindness and quasi-obedience to allay the guilt of being unwilling to surrender to His Lordship.

Am I willing to be a disciple? Are you willing to be a disciple? We must answer this question before we ever get to taking the Gospel to the nations. Otherwise, we may be taking our version of the Gospel to the world instead of His…

Discipleship is not limited to what you can comprehend – it must transcend all comprehension.  Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own comprehension, and I will help you to comprehend even as I do.  Bewilderment is the true comprehension.  Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge.  My comprehension transcends yours.  Thus Abraham went forth from his father and not knowing whither he went.  He trusted himself to my knowledge, and cared not for his own, and thus he took the right road and came to his journey’s end.  Behold, that is the way of the cross.  You cannot find it yourself, so you must let me lead you as though you were a blind man.  Wherefore it is not you, no man, no living creature, but I myself, who instruct you by my word and Spirit in the way you should go.  Not the work which you choose, not the suffering you devise, but the road which is clean contrary to all that you choose or contrive or desire – that is the road you must take.  To that I call you and in that you must be my disciple.  If you do that, there is the acceptable time and there you master is come.

Martin Luther – on discipleship quoted from Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer.

Acts 2:42

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

First, “devoted” is the word that should not be overlooked. To be devoted means be committed above all things. Resources, time, energy, focus and diligence all become a part of devotion. The early church was devoted to the teaching of the Apostles, (the Gospel), Fellowship in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Each man and woman personally devoted himself or herself in the context of the whole. That means each of them alongside the other devoted their lives to knowing God.  In that context the church grew and peoples lives were changed eternally.

With this first idea of “devotion”, let me ask you a question…

“To what or whom are you devoted?”

If we say we are devoted to God then we will be devoted to His word. His word in this passage speaks of a people who are supremely devoted.  The early Church devoted “themselves”.  It might be easy to think that the early church, so close to Christ, so near the Apostles would find it easy be so devoted.

But, have we not been given the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and have we not been given the whole counsel of God?  The answer is , “Yes”. Therefore, we find that there is no excuse for us not entering into that same devotion to God and to one another.

If this is the case, then could it be that this passage is not just descriptive but prescriptive to the church…

If so, then we must think of this passage in terms of obedience and emulation.  Let us first answer the question of devotion before we move on in the passage.  Only then can we be in the Gospel-centered community that God would have us.

chad