Dec 14

Choosing Joy

Christian Life, Christmas Behind the Seen 2010, Missional Living, Northshore Baptist Church 9 Comments »

This Sunday, in our December series Christmas Behind the Seen I talked about choosing Joy, even in our disappointment and in light of God’s promise of restoration. As part of the message, I talked about Alan and Heidi Matthew who are going through the fight of their lives as Alan was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer of the esophagus and lungs. In the midst of this incredibly difficult trial, Alan and Heidi are choosing joy. Here’s the unabridged version of Alan’s note he sent last week as we’ve been talking about joy, faith, and trials.

Oh Jonathan, I so much appreciate you my brother and pastor. You have truly been a new and positive influence on me as you took over for Jan. My life experience holds lots of choosing joy in trials but I must tell you it is so different this time. You see, this time I am truly focused on the Lord and what He has planned for me. With the faith in what is to come – promised by Him – I am free to choose His Joy. I cannot control my own life and have not been able to. Once I really grabbed onto that concept and it became real to me, I can surrender my cares to Him. This time it is not as conceptual, however, it has consumed me to follow what He wants me to do: look outside my own trials and reach out to others. That means sowing the seeds of Truth and bearing spiritual fruit. This lesson squares with James 1 because it grounds me. I am not tossed by the waves but can focus on God’s truth and share it with others. The test of trials makes me stronger when I have this confidence.

It has been very exciting to have non-Christian people ask me about positive attitude in the midst of trials. What they are asking me is, “What is it that allows you to be positive?” My response about having faith in the unseen future puzzles them. What they are really looking for is how they can share that confidence in facing their trials, their heartaches, and their failures. Doubt is what holds us back and throws us back into the waves (just like Peter when he took his eyes off Jesus when walking on water). I was pleased to have 9 guests to attend two RainCity Lounge performances because people were open to my invitation… because they saw something different in me when I responded to this great trial in my life.

So what is the result? Perseverance in Faith. And how does that happen in my trial? I have to ask for it. I have to ask Jesus with faith to supply it to me without doubt. This is what differs in my life today. I can ask without doubt because I believe it.

Finally, God is good. He wants the best for us, not the empty trials that enter our lives. He wants us to be stronger and more productive (John 15 – my Father prunes the branches to make them stronger and more fruitful) How am I pruned? How is it that trials make me stronger and more confident in my faith? How is it that my Lord went through all trials and more than I will ever see, yet without sin?

“I can therefore come boldly before Jesus knowing He went through trials much worse than mine and can help me overcome mine with mercy and grace in my time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)

So how is this practical when facing a trial? True faith brings joy. Joy overflows when you reach out beyond yourself. People see that in you and respond. They want what they see in you. It isn’t the trial that brings the joy. It is the response to the trial that people see. My prayer is to respond to trials by asking Jesus for the extra measure of faith I need – without doubt or reservation. Believe me when I say that it is not easy to do and requires focus on Him to deliver it to me because I don’t have that kind of strength. He develops perseverance in me to make me mature and complete, and He uses trials to do that. Bless you my brother!

That’s how you choose joy, even in your disappointment because God has promised ultimate restoration in and through the Christmas gift of Jesus Christ.

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Jun 04

Praying the Psalms

Bible, Hebrews: Supremacy of Christ, Sermons, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Musings 2 Comments »

One of the spiritual disciples that the people of God have historically done is pray through the psalms. The psalms are a collection of songs that the people of God have sung and prayed through all of life’s ups and downs.  There are psalms of orientation that point us to the character of God as we praise Him for who He fully is.  There are psalms of disorientation that are sung and prayed as we cry out in confusion and despair, as life is difficult.  And there are psalms of reorientation that re-center and refocus us to the character and nature of God.  In all of the psalms, the focal point is the character and nature of God.  As we pray the psalms, fixating and focusing on the character of God, here’s what happens: “Our perseverance is rooted in His promise which changes our perspective.” When we pray the psalms, we see His great promises, which are based in His great character.  And that gives us perseverance and changes our perspective.

Think for a moment about the Old Testament prophet Jonah.  When he was in the belly of the whale, a definite place of crisis, in chapter 2 he cries out to God in prayer. But here’s the deal… his prayer was not a spontaneous, original prayer.  He prayed the psalms. Every part of his prayer in chapter 2 can be traced back to one of the psalms. This doesn’t mean that we don’t ever come to God in spontaneous conversation, but it does mean that God has given us these powerfully beautiful psalms to root us in who He is, what He’s done, and what He will do on behalf of His people.

Psalm 1, the very first psalm in the psalter, roots us in the practice of praying the psalms.  The very first psalm orients us to the character of God. The psalms help our roots go deep… and when the droughts come, we know where to find nourishment. When the storms come, our roots are deep within the bedrock of God’s character. As we pray the psalms, we go deep with God.

Take a psalm or a couple of verses of a psalm each day.  Read it slowly and meditate upon it. Pray through it. Journal through it. How does the psalm reveal the character and nature of God?  How does your life relate to the confession and cry of the psalmist? How do the character, nature, and promise of God change your perspective? See your life in light of what God is saying about Himself through the psalm. Give it a try… prayer through a psalm or a couple verses from a psalm this week and see how your vision and view of God is shaped as you live in those seasons of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation.  This is a key way in which we can take serious the character of God by taking serious His promise and perseverance.

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May 02

Profiles of the Spiritually Immature & Mature

Bible, Hebrews: Supremacy of Christ, Sermons, Theological Musings 3 Comments »

This past Sunday I preached on Hebrews 5:11-6:20 in our Hebrews: the Supremacy of Christ series.  This passage is one of the most controversial theological passages in the New Testament.  The interpretive challenge centers around a possible loss of salvation.  But after studying it, praying through it, and preaching it, I think the heart of the passage points to growing in our life with Jesus move than losing our life with Jesus.  It’s an exhortation and encouragement to keep growing in our life with Jesus as we move from spiritual immaturity to spiritual maturity.

Spiritual Immaturity is marked by Impatient Pragmatism & Shallow Faith. The American Church is rife with these two characteristics.  Impatient pragmatism says, “If following Jesus doesn’t bring immediate results for me right now, I’m done with it.”  The spiritually immature tend to treat Jesus like a personal servant rather than the Lord of the Universe.  Here’s the way Michael Horton explains it in Christless Christianity:

[In the American Church] everything is measured by our happiness rather than by God’s holiness, the sense of our being sinners becomes secondary, if not offensive.  If we are good people who have lost our way but with the proper instruction and motivation can become a better person, we need only a life coach, not a redeemer.  Aside from the packaging, there is nothing that cannot be found in most churches today that could not be satisfied by any number of secular programs and self-help groups. My concern is that we are getting dangerously close to the place in everyday American church life where the Bible is mined for “relevant” quotes but is largely irrelevant on its own terms. God is used as a personal resource rather than known, worshiped, and trusted. Jesus is a coach with a good game plan for our victory rather than a Savior who has already achieved it for us. Salvation is more a matter of having our best life now than being saved from God’s judgment by god himself.  And the Holy Spirit is an electrical outlet we can plug into for the power we need to be all that we can be. (compilation of quotes from pp. 15-19)

When life gets hectic and the world gets hostile, the spiritually immature tend to wither because of a shallow faith.  We have a tendency to dumb down the Christian faith, not wanting to talk about the more difficult, complex, and mysterious things of God and faith because they are difficult.  And we like it easy.  But the problem is, when life gets tough, easy doesn’t cut it.  Easy doesn’t last.  Easy and shallow faith wilts and withers.  This is the profile of the spiritually immature.

Spiritual Maturity is marked by Patient Perseverance & Deep Faith. Those who are spiritually mature persevere whatever comes their way with patience.  Here’s why: their deep faith has nurtured them and matured them to understand and know more deeply the character and nature of God.  People who are spiritually mature have a resiliency and a resolve in their life with Jesus because they believe in the gospel and promises of God. They want to understand more and more deeply who Jesus fully is and what He has done on their behalf.  They want to mine the depths of God’s Word.  And in that process of going and growing deep with Jesus, they develop deep roots that keep them from wilting and withering when the storms and droughts invariably come along.  This is the profile of the spiritually mature.

Where are you on the spiritual continuum of immaturity to maturity?  Where are those areas of your life where you seem stuck, unwilling to move forward? How can you see Jesus Christ for who He fully is, the crucified and risen Lord, and grow in your depth, love, and worship for what He has fully done on your behalf?  Keep going and keep growing in your life with Jesus as you move from spiritual immaturity to spiritual maturity.


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