Declaring His Excellencies!

The Apostle Peter gives us all a compelling personal mission statement:      

that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

The sole purpose of your life is to declare to others the AWESOME God that you serve. To speak often, and to speak well, of your Savior.  

Imagine if true Christians were not known for what we’re against, but for the fact that we can’t stop talking about Jesus.  How He loves us.  How He’s given hope.  Given us perspective and purpose.  How He’s rearranged our priorities.  His holiness, majesty and beauty.  How He perfectly fulfills over 300 direct prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures.  How He suffered and died for our sins, freeing us to love others freely and without condition…no matter who you are. How we now live with an eternal perspective and no longer run after what others do.

How do I do this?  First, the decision is mine to be conscious of Him every day, moment by moment.  What’s on my mind is what you’re going to hear me talk about. It’s a settled decision and conviction on my part. Second, I look for and take up the opportunity to give Him praise in all circumstances, not matter where I am, not being afraid of what others may think. 

Why do I do this?  Because we’re people for his own possession.  Once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy.  Do we need any other reason?  “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, than no sacrifice is to great for me to make for Him.”  Or, “he is no fool who looses what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose”.  Our eternal destiny has been rewritten because He loves me and died for my forgiveness. 

No matter what your circumstances, you can ALWAYS praise Him, even in the desert.  Because your life is a vapor and the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared to the eternal glories ahead of you.  Because He loves you, and, suffered for you.  I don’t mean to overlook your struggles, but, I hope to point you to victory even when you see none.  Make it your ambition to speak of His excellencies because He has called you to His marvelous light! 

-      Pastor Colin

P.S.  I chose the picture of Kaylee because she’s not afraid to speak up and tell you what’s on her mind!

Preparing to Suffer

In taking a short break from writing a paper for seminary I came across this little gem titled "How Christians Prepare for Suffering". Seems like a topic that is always applicable. Pointing to Paul as the example the Parnell makes these points (which you should go check out):

1. Count it all, that is everything that might be labeled "gain", past, present, and future and call it "loss".

2. Once that is done you've now entered "normal" Christianity. Paul was not an exception but an example to follow. We over-privileged Americans need to wrestle hard with this one.

3. Remind ourselves continually that Jesus is better. Better than what? Everything. Those people and things that are most precious to you - Jesus comes first. He is better. Thus we can call it all "loss".

4. Love Christ today.

He ends with this, "It will not minimize the pain. Not at all. But we will know, even in the darkest night, that Jesus is our God and all, that he is our Rock and treasure, that he is enough." This is how we prepare to suffer.

Mike

Some Food for Thought and Action

I just had this article, Raising Kids in a Pornified Culture, forwarded to me. It's one of those that I desperately wish I didn't need to read but unfortunately can't ignore. Part of me just wants to put my kids in a bubble and not let them come out until, well I'm not sure when, maybe never. But that doesn't do them any favors. This is our reality so the question becomes, how do I prepare them? Point one really captures the heart of the issue: Aim to give our kids a huge view of God who is gloriously delightful. I love that. Nielson, the author, provides some really solid, practical points to think through. Ignoring the issue is not an option.

Mike

What do you look like?

Trials are coming if they are not already here. How will you look?

Like this?

Or this?

Or this?

It's your call.

Mike

How Do I Measure Spiritual Growth?

Pursuing goals requires specific and measurable markers.  “I want to drop 10 lbs.” is better than “I want to loose weight”.  I want to nail Bach’s “Orchestral Suite No 2 in B minor” sure beats “I want to be a better flute player this year.”   Now shift this to spiritual pursuits.  Our goal is to grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But how do we measure our progress?  “I feel closer to Jesus” is too subjective, and our feelings can be deceptive anyway.   There are specific areas of our life which will yield a good read on our spiritual growth; consider these five and drop in the dipstick… 

God’s Word

Busyness, sin and excessive entertainment:  these three will always keep you from the Word.    We blame poor discipline and a tight schedule, but the truth is that our lack of desire to feast on Scripture can often be traced back to the three stooges listed above.  It is in His presence that transformation actually takes place.  Not reformation, which is trying to change by our own efforts, but transformation.  Peter tells us to crave the Word as a newborn does milk.  I know I am growing in my walk if I want more of His Word:  I want to know what God says and I want to live it out.  And the peace we receive from parking our minds here is worth the price of admission in itself.    

Affections

Remember counting down the days to our birthday or Christmas?  There were those toys we had to have.  The older we get, some things just begin to matter less.  But don’t confuse growing older with growing deeper, in Him.   On a spiritual plane we are constantly reminded that the “stuff” of this world never really satisfies.   Fame and reputation?  That’s great, but I’d rather GOD’S commendation:  Well done, good and faithful servant.  Big house, nice car, more stuff?  Sorry, my inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, unfading and kept in heaven for me.  Besides, whom have I in heaven by you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of heart and my portion forever.  I know I’m growing in Christ when I develop a “care less” attitude towards the things I used to run after. 

Love, Love, Love!

One of the two tests for Christian assurance is love. Do we love God and do we love others?  Sometimes we feel guilted into doing things; that’s not Christian maturity.  Christian maturity is when we stand still long enough to perceive God’s amazing love for us and in turn, begin to love and serve Him because we just can’t imagine it any other way.  We stretch ourselves in our relationships and actually try to love our unlovables.   We want to do the right thing, even when no one’s looking!  Why?  Because we are conscious of, and rely on, the love He has for us.  We can’t help ourselves.  It’s a slow transformation, but it’s beautiful to see. 

Action

While love is the first test of assurance, obedience is the second.  Are you walking the walk?  Are you gaining victory now, over sins that set you back five years ago?  Do you want to do the right thing, even if you don’t always hit the mark?  Obedience matters:  how are you doing here?  God will not take you to the next level until you own and obey what He’s already shown you.  

Perspective

Before we knew Christ, we lived for the here and now. Even our best attempts to live for something more was, at best, a stab in the dark.  As we grow in Him, we are reminded that our life is but a vapor and we are living for something much bigger:  eternity.  Not only that, we are laying our lives down each day so that HE gets the glory and others are drawn to HIM in us.  This brings comfort in the valley and keeps us from wasting our life on things that don’t matter.  How is your perspective developing?  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  

A couple things to keep in mind here.  GOD is the one at work in us, conforming us to His image.  He requires that we work out our salvation with fear and trembling but we also know that He is faithful and will not give up on us.  And, growth often occurs in the valley:  in our darkest night, our deepest travails and through our most persistent doubts and questions.  He is faithful. 

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  

Pastor Colin