Luther's Struggle is My Struggle

When the light of the gospel was turned on in Martin Luther's mind and heart, the Protestant Reformation was given a huge dose of momentum. Some say it began in that moment, but that is to miss the whispers of Reformation that had been taking place for over one hundred years. But that is a different story. The point for me today is that this man who was so enamoured and set free by a conscious apprehension of God's grace, really struggled to believe it.  As a friend of mine, Johnny Long, says, "The gospel can be like a bar of wet soap. It is easy to lose our grasp on it."  Luther says the same thing, but in a little different way:

"Let anybody try [to live by faith in God’s grace] and he will see and experience how exceedingly hard and bitter a thing it is for a man who has lived by works righteousness, to pull himself out of it with all his heart... I myself have been preaching and cultivating [a grace centered life] through reading and writing for almost twenty years and still feel the old clinging dirt of wanting to deal so with God that I may contribute something so that He will give me His grace in exchange for my holiness. Still I cannot get it into my head that I should surrender myself completely to sheer grace, yet I know that this is what I should and must do." 

Surrender to sheer grace. Yes, that is it! But not just once, or at a re-dedication service. I am called to surrender my self-righteousness to the sheer grace of Jesus every day—and if your experience is like mine... multiple times a day. And the result is the experience of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.

So thanks, Dr. Luther, for the encouraging word of struggle, for your struggle is mine.  Let's just be thankful that even though the gospel is like soap in my hands, I am not like soap in the hands of Jesus. As the hymn says and the cross proves, "His love will not let me go."

Thou Alone

This stanza from Augustus Toplady's famous hymn has been on my mind today...

"Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law's commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone."

That is why Jesus lived and died. To save people like me who could never save themselves. He must save, and he alone.  And thank God, those whom he saves, he also sustains. As Jesus says of those who repent and believe, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."   

An Invitation for the Destitute

In Isaiah 55:1, God says, 

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost." 

I have read that 100 times and missed the critical word—no. The invitation to the king's banquet is not for those who don't have enough, but for those who have nothing—NO money. It is not just for the poor, but for the utterly destitute. And of course, the analogy is not merely for the financially destitute, but for the spiritually destitute who are called to dine at the feast "without cost" because the price has already been paid in full. It is not a free meal, it is a costly one whose bill has been covered fully, tax, tip and all. My calling now is to partake in the feast of grace by eating, or by "believing" that Jesus is the One who paid such a price for my seat at the table by experiencing the ultimate destitution on a Roman cross. And at such a price, the banquet is to be deeply enjoyed... even savored. For the gospel tells me that the more I delight my heart in the riches of God's fare (ie, his grace in Jesus), the more God is magnified as the master of the banquet. Indeed, my joy is for his glory. But on most days I tend to live as if I am to leave a tip, or contribute in some small way.  But to the degree I try to "do my part," I insult God's grace, diminish my joy, and cloud God's glory.  So today, I pray that I will come in my spiritual and moral poverty to Jesus, hungering and thirsting after his righteousness, which he gives to the destitute freely and fully.

Filing for Bankruptcy

Personal and commercial bankruptcies are increasing at a record setting pace. However, in the words of Jerry Bridges, "As devestating as permanent bankruptcy is, there is a bright side. The beleaguered businessman is free." His debts have been cancelled. The calls from the creditors have been silenced. "This businessman may be humiliated, but at least he is free." The gospel tells me that Jesus came for folks who were ready to file bankruptcy—not financially, but spiritually. And so I'm filing moral and spiritual bankruptcy today, so that I can be reminded that the law's condemnation has been silenced. Jesus has settled the debt. I am free.

Stop Performing in the Pulpit

In his book, Fresh Power, Jim Cymbala asks the question, "What is a Spirit-filled preacher?" For a preacher like me, that's a good question. Using the apostle Peter as an example, Cymbala provides a helpful answer:

"Many of us have heard oratory and cleverness in the pulpit. We've seen showmanship and listened to smoothly worded phrases. In contrast to all this, here is Peter, a fisherman with no formal training in homiletics, giving a simple but powerful message... He points them to the Savior... He wasn't... performing. His heart had been filled with the love of God through the Holy Spirit." 

Now I do not discount the value of homiletical instruction. However, the power of the gospel is not in alliteration, rhymes or funny stories (as helpful as they can be in communication). The power is the gospel itself—the message that points sinners to a Savior and his cross. 

For someone who had tried so hard to preach well, I realize that much of my efforts have been a form of man-centered performance. There is no power there, since a performance is about the preacher's reputation, and not the reputation of Jesus. So I repent, want to stop performing in the pulpit, and look forward, Lord willing, for more opportunities to magnify the reputation of Jesus by preaching the simple message of grace in the gospel.

Tasting the Honey

Jonathan Edwards, using honey as a metaphor for experiencing the gospel, said that there is a "difference between having a rational judgement that honey is sweet and having a sense of its sweetness." In other words, there is something more than mere intellectual ascent (but not less) that is part what it means to "experience" the sweetness of the gospel. After all, Scripture says to "taste and see that the Lord is good." Don't just know it, taste it... savor it... experience it. I think that this may be what the apostle Paul was talking about in Romans 5:5, saying, "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." That is what I need today—a fresh outpouring of the God's love expressed to an unworthy, but dramatically loved, adopted child. That is what Paul prayed for the Ephesians. It is a love about which the cross speaks so clearly. To mix the metaphor, I want to be still long enough to listen and hear the music of the gospel (i.e., taste the honey), then I will begin to sing, and dance, and really live to the glory of the One who has loved me so well.

Ships Need Wind, Coal Needs Fire

As we look toward launching a new gospel mission later this year, I am energized by words of Charles Spurgeon, a preaching with amazing speaking gifts, "Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without wind or chariots without steeds. Like branches without sap, we are withered. Like coals without fire, we are useless." As someone who has longed for great gifts, I now realize how withered and useless I have been through much of my preaching ministry. I am so glad for Spurgeon sharing his secret. The power was not to be found in his great gifts, but in his great God. And if he needed the empowering of the Holy Spirit, man, how much more do it need it—and not just in preaching, but in every facet of living the implications of the gospel as a follower of Jesus. So give me the wind and the fire... of the Spirit.

Church Plant Vision Video

This is the vision video for the Dahlonega Church Plant. If interested, you may download a high quality version here.

Why Do Humans Wear Clothes?

Our family recently watched a documentary on the Scopes "Monkey" Trial in Dayton, TN, which took place early last century. With the theme of Biblical creationism vs. Darwinian evolution on the table, I began to wonder: Why do humans wear clothes? Why do apes wear not wear clothes? It seems as if the fundamental difference is a sense of guilt. Now, certainly there are humans who have a calloused sense of guilt and are comfortable living in nudist colonies or streaking (I'll never forget the pack of streakers that I saw running through mid-town Memphis in 1975, when I was six). Nevertheless, I find it interesting that, even as Adam and Eve's nakedness was associated with their moral guilt, so also most folks would experience a degree of shame if exposed in our physical nakedness. The same is true with moral guilt. Most people resist being exposed morally. However, that exposure is at the heart of the gospel. For on a cross, Jesus was stripped naked and killed, bearing my guilt and shame in his exposed body so that my guilt and shame may be covered, not with fig leaves, human success, or even merely jeans and a t-shirt, but with his perfect righteousness. Anyway, it struck me that my dog does not wear clothes, and neither do the deer who live in the woods behind my house. And neither do apes. But I do. And it serves to remind me of the gospel.

Emancipated by the Gospel

I'm still wading through Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel, and came across a helpful quote on one of the many implications of what it means to be "free in Christ":

"Freedom in Christ produces a healthy independence from peer pressure, people-pleasing, and the bondage of human respect. The tyranny of public opinion can manipulate our lives.... For most of us it takes a long time for the Spirit of freedom to cleanse us of the subtle urges to be admired..."

One of my besetting sins is "the fear of man," and while I wish I could say it is a problem that resides in my past, I can relate to the "it takes a long time" dynamic of breaking free from the need to be admired. It is sad how often it has dominated my life. That is why I continually must affirm the positional righteousness that I possess in the gospel though faith alone in the work of Jesus on my behalf.  For on the cross, Jesus was bound and suffered in my place so that I could be free from the struggle to attain a righteousness of my own. That is what I am called to believe. And when I do, I actually experience the freedom for which Jesus has set me free.

And the Winner Is...

Drum roll please.... And the winner of the cool blue 2009 MINI Cooper S is...

Jay Hightower of Atlanta, GA! Congratulations, Jay. And thanks to everyone for following The Dahlonega Church Plant. : )

Pleasing Jesus by Believing Jesus

What if I believed that I really am totally, unreservedly, completely, and eternally forgiven... and more than that, that I have been declared righteous? What if I believed that no performance, ritual, or duty could increase my perfect standing as a fully-loved child of the Fathter? What if I could rest in my sonship with God, and just be. The Scripture says, "Be still and know that I am God." Yes. And I think it also is good to be still and know that I am his. I have been adopted by the King, and will receive an inheritance beyond my wildest dreams. Furthermore, I cannot be more loved for my well-doing, or less loved for my ill-doing. That is why my being his his must dominate my mind and heart. For it is only in knowing who I am as an object of God's grace, mercy and love, that will have a deep, lasting, and positive affect on my doing. 

In 1667, Marjory Kempe of Lynn, MA, believed that she had received a prophetic word from Jesus, who apparently said,

"More pleasing to me than all your prayers and works... is that you would believe that I love you."

Whatever I or others might think about her claim, the question remains: What if I really believed that? The cross is whispering those words to me today. And so let me be still for a while so that I can hear and believe.

Humility is Always Truth

In The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning says,

"Perhaps the real dichotomy in the Christian community today is not between conservatives and liberals... but between the awake and the asleep.... Just as a smart man knows he is stupid, so the awake Christian knows he is a ragamuffin. Although truth is not always humility, humility is always truth."

Wow. That is good. Unfortunately, I am not.  For it is true: I am worse than I think I am.  But thanks be to God that it is also true that the gospel is much better than I think it is.  So in light of Manning's dichotomy, I am praying for a great awakening— an awakening in my own soul so that I may be awake to the beauty, wonder, and power of the gospel.

Catalyzed by the Gospel

Bill Hybels, the founding pastor of the now famous Willow Creek Community Church, says,

"When I was saved at 17, I had a dramatic conversion: I went from a perfomance-based theology to a grace-based theology. In a moment of time, I understood I was loved so much that Christ went to the cross so salvation could be made available to me as a gift. The enormity of that shock has never left me. I have been permanently ignited by the miracle of grace. I still can't get over grace. I don't witness to my friends because I feel any obligation to witness. I can't get over grace. I am catalyzed by the gospel message."

That is a great testimony. But isn't it one to which every Christian can testify: "I went from a performance-based theology to a grace-based theology." What I find most challenging is that while I profess a wonderful, grace-based theology, I still get stuck in a performance-based life.I have such a hard time shaking off the legalism from my heart.  And so the call of the gospel to me in this condition is to believe again... to believe that Jesus performed in my place. The gospel tells me that through faith in his work, I am counted righteous. Such a simple message to understand intellectually... but so hard to live practically. This is because, as David Benner says, "Grace is alien to human psychology." So I pray that human psychology would be overrulled in my head and heart by the Holy Spirit so that I, like Bill Hybels, increasingly will live a life that is "catalyzed by the gospel."

Obsession

"An obsession with the Gospel is the only obsession that will cure all other obsessions." Tim Keller

Mystic Wisdom

English Mystic, Julian of Norwich, said, "The greatest honor we can give to Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love." Really? But I tend to live so joylessly because of a knowledge of my failure and sin. I am so unlovable. But the gospel is for folks just like me. The unworthy. The unlovely. The unrighteous. The gospel is for folks like me, because we can glorify God the most. Not because of our goodness... but because "where sin abounded, grace abounded more." It is this grace that delivers the love of God to the soul. And delighting in God's love glorifies the giver of this love... the kind of love that makes the ultimate sacrifice to reconcile a wayward son or daughter. The kind of love of which the cross speaks so clearly. And so my desire today is to glean from Julian's mystic wisdom by delighting in and savoring the deep, rich, eternal, unexpected, and unrelenting love of God expressed to me in Jesus. Even when I don't feel loved or think that I should be loved, I will look to the cross, and pray for the gladness that glorifies God.

The Real Thing

Brennan Manning (no relation to Archie, Peyton or Eli), in his modern devotional classic, The Ragamuffin Gospel, says, "Unlike Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame, we need not hide all that is ugly and repulsive in us. Jesus comes not for the super-spiritual, but for the wobbly and the weak-kneed who know that don't have it together." In a word, I think Manning is getting at the point that because of the cross, I now can be real. Real about the pervasiveness of my sinfulness now (not just before I was a Christian), and real about the pervasiveness of God's grace to me in Jesus now (not just when I became a Christian).  In the paraphrased words of Dr. Tim Keller, I am more sinful and morally depraved than I would ever be able to admit (or fully understand), but in the gospel, at the very same time, I am more forgiven, loved and accepted than I could ever dare to dream.  Oh, to live like I really believe that. I believe... help my unbelief!

McDonald's Interview at Perimeter

This past weekend at the Dahlonega Church Plant "video premier" at Perimeter, we had the opportunity to interview some good friends of ours from Atlanta, Brittany and Joe McDonald. Enjoy.

Repentance

A very close friend of mine emailed me the other day asking for a definition of repentance. Hmmm...

I heard someone say that repentance is spiritual and moral honesty. Meaning, in repentance I admit that I am a real sinner, and not just one in theory. That's good (not the sin, but the honesty!). For Stanley Voke, a working definition of repentance is "sitting in the sinner's place." I really like that. 

Anyway, the Greek word for repentance, metanoia, means "to change one's mind" or "to turn." The standard explanation is that when we repent, we change... we commit to stop doing bad stuff and to start doing good stuff. Some say it this way: "Repentance is turning from your sin to following Jesus." However, I think that this explanation misses the teaching of John the Reformed Baptist, who said that the Pharisees should "produce fruit in keeping with repentance." The fruit (the change) is not the repentance... it is the result of repentance.

So let me twist the phrase a bit, and say it this way... Rather than turn from my sin to Jesus, I am to turn with my sin to Jesus (or to anyone else whom I have sinned against).  The change of mind is that I am the sinner. I am wrong. I deserve justice. And so to repent with faith is to turn with my sin to Jesus believing that he takes my sin upon himself on the cross and, in turn, clothes me with his perfect righteousness. Then I am filled with the Spirit and enabled to see the fruit (change) of repentance, which is nothing other than the fruit of the Spirit working in my life as I go to the sinner's place and find grace. 

So the problem with my lack of practical change, is not a lack of trying harder to change, but a lack of repentance (not penance) combined with faith.

Dahlonega Church Plant Featured at Perimeter

This past weekend at Perimeter the Dahlonega Church Plant was featured at all the weekend services with a vision video and by having our family introduced on stage. Bob Cargo, the director for church planting at Perimeter, introduced us and prayed for us. We also had an information table set up in the main lobby where we enjoyed talking to many, many folks—lots of whom were very enthusiastic about the new church. Several high school seniors who will be attending NGCSU introduced themselves. Needless to say, we are very excited about doing ministry in a college town!

The Second Look

I came across a hymn of John Newton today (I don't know the title, only the words), in which his eyes fix twice on those of Jesus on the cross. The first look overwhelms him with guilt and shame, but the second convinces him of God's immeasurable grace and complete forgiveness. That is the law (the first look) driving him and me to the gospel (the second look), and is why I need to spend time meditating on the cross of Jesus. I first need to feel the pain of my sin so that I more deeply can experience and appreciate the hight, depth, width, and breadth of God's amazing grace toward and love for me in Jesus. It is encountering such grace that not only consoles me, but changes me. So don't miss the second look!

In my sin I took delight
Unawed by shame or fear
Until a new object met my sight
And stopped my wild career

I saw one hanging on a tree
In agony and blood
Who fixed his languid eyes on me
As near his cross I stood

Sure never til my last breath
Will I forget that look
It seemed to charge me with his death
Though not a word he spoke

My conscience owned and felt my guilt
And plunged me in despair
I knew my sins his blood had spilt
And served to nail him there.

A second look he gave which said
I freely all forgive
My blood was for your ransom paid,
I died that you may live.

Let me emphasize it again to my own heart: do not miss the second look, but gaze and gaze upon him who is my Savior and Priceless Treasure. 

Functional vs. Devotional Prayer

According to Myers-Briggs, I am an INTJ, which means that I like "alone time." So did Jesus. Listen to Mark 1:34 and Matthew 14:23:

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.... After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountain by himself to pray."

The problem is that when I get to that gloriously solitary place, I tend not to pray, but to plan. But Jesus prays.  He knew he needed to draw strength from his relationship with the Father. But many times I live like an orphan who has no Father. That probably is why I plan so much and pray so little. 

But a real relationship with the Father (not religion, not ritual, and most certainly not guilt or duty) is what fuels real prayer. When I know God as a Father who would send his own beloved Son, Jesus, to reconcile me to himself by dealing with the penalty of my sin on the cross, the motives for my time with God change. I know myself as a runaway, spiritual orphan, who has been adopted in love. I am the guilty offender who has been declared righteous. I am the enemy who is now a friend. I am the unlovely and unloveable sinner who has been made beautiful in the sight of God. All though Jesus. All by grace. 

It is embracing this gospel that transforms prayer from being primarily a functional list of requests (where I use God) into being a devotional relationship characterized by trust, hope, love, joy, etc. (where I enjoy God).  So the call on my life today is not to try harder to pray better, but to look upon the love of God in the cross. Then prayer will not be something that I have to do, but something that I get to do.