Why We Need Grace

"Initially, grace is the forgiveness of sin but the coastline of an ocean does not even begin to reveal its depths. Grace is coming into Jesus and then manifesting Him as you grow in His nature." (Unknown)

We need grace because

• We are Sinners (Ephesians 2:8,9).
• We are Servants (1 Corinthians 15:9,10).
• We are Stewards (2 Corinthains 8:1,2).
• We are Sufferers ( (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
• We are Soldiers ( (2 Timothy 2:1,3).
• We are Students (Titus 2:11,12).

These take us to those ocean depths. Maybe these are the waves intimated by John when he speaks of our having received, "grace upon grace" - waves of grace (John 1:16).

In any case Peter tells us to, "Grow in grace . . ." (2 Peter 3:18), and by His grace we will.

God is God

Ask a Jamaican believer, “How are you?”and he will often say, “God is good.”

Keep in mind that many such people are impoverished, sick, or in pain. They may be homeless or hungry. Yet they say with sincerity, “God is good.”

I think this is a great testimony. It expresses biblical understanding that has been lost by many of us. In such situations, we are more likely to respond, “Why me?” or “Why would God allow this?”

Paraphrasing C. S. Lewis: The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of God who is good, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word "good"  and look on things as if man were the center of them. So think about it for a minute. When we assert God’s goodness, we are also truly affirming His “Godness.”

I have never heard a Jamaican ask: “How could a good God allow this to happen to me?” Maybe this is because they, like Lewis, know that man is not the reference point nor is he at the center of anything. God is, and we ought not diminish God with such questions. Instead, we joyfully say, “God is God.”

You have no food? God is God. You lost your job? Yes, but God is God. You are suffering? Yes. He is my God.

Make no mistake. This is not some kind of meek, fatalistic surrender to the inevitable. Rather it is strong faith, filled with positive hope for the future and readiness for present testings and coming battles. 

Like Job, having now seen Him we take back those man centered words and repent (42:5,6). When we do, then God is honored—the God who always does what is good and who delights to give good gifts to His children. (Psa. 84:11; Mt 7:11)

A "Punditocracy"? What's that?

A PUNDIT in today's western usage  is a person thought to be very well informed; an expert or authority; one who believes that everything can be known and should be pronounced upon . . . and he's the one to do the pronouncing.

We used to scorn such people as "know it alls". "Full of hot air," we said. But now we not only don't seem to mind their pontificating, we look for it. One person writes with all seriousness: "The key to a successful adult life lies in surrounding yourself with experts, a master person for every need."

Some say that we Americans live in a "punditocracy" - described as a society where we no longer have to learn or think, exert ourselves, or take risks. Life is manageable and secure to the extent that we choose the right people to give us answers to our questions. And so we are very much "pundit dependent".

Sadly, Christian workers can also be the same way. Experts and specialists keep telling us that we just can't make it without them; that we really need them if we are going to experience growth, usefulness, effectiveness, or just about anything else. They are ever ready to enlist us in a seminar, conference, or retreat, a CD or DVD series, a radio or TV program, book, journal, web site . . .

J. R. DeWitt writes: One occasionally gets the idea from some who preach and write that the whole of the Christian age awaited the advent of their ministries; that it is with them and the burden of what they have to say that the Christian faith began to make sense and to be understood in all its implications. But such an approach is entirely unacceptable, and those who speak in this way, introducing at the same time their own absurdities as though they were the gospel of our Lord Jesus, are to be reproached and their teaching repudiated.

This sounds to me like the days of the Old Testament prophets. The same kind of scenario. God's spokesmen had relinquished their ordained roles to become instead, "Pundit Prophets". They went about speaking comfortable words . . . their own ideas . . . none of it true but all of it accepted by Good's pundit-dependent people. In seeming amazement and disbelief, God asks: But who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, that he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and listened? The answer: "No one." Not the prophets. Not the priests. And certainly not the people. A few verses later: But if they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds" (Jeremiah 23:18,22).

Could it be that sometimes ineffectiveness in our spiritual walk and work is the result of this pundit dependency? Does it not come from the ridiculous expectation that worldly wisdom can produce spiritual fruit . . . Godly achievement . . . holy lives?

And so I ask myself. And I ask you. Where are we looking? To whom are we going for our answers?

The temporal satisfaction and the eternal significance of our lives depends on our answer.

It's For You To Decide

You can do what millions of others have done. You can settle down to the monotony of American life, get married, raise children, work, retire, die, and be forgotten. Or, you can become a pioneer, trail blazer, invest your life in a great adventure for God, be the first to give some unreached tribe the Gospel, and be remembered forever. 

It's for you to decide.                                               
                                                                          - author unknown

I Heard It Again

"I just admire you missionaries SO much! You give up everything to serve the Lord. I could never do something like that!"

Such a telling statement. And then in the same conversation: "How do you missionaries go to those dangerous places and terrible climates and yet work there so happily?

I'm not sure that a response will move the person who is asking off dead center or toward those places - people generally cling to their self-protective excuses - but I'll try. The big part of the answer is this : such missionaries have settled the survival question.

Those who ask these "how" and "why" questions clearly have not thought much about it, and so they think that missionaries are either super spiritual or completely crazy, while they somehow admiring them and faintly wishing that they could be like them.

Our "survival question" answer gives insight into the way Jesus lived and conducted His ministry. "Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). Jesus was able to live as He lived and minister as He ministered because He had settled the survival question.

We say, "I can't live without this or that," meaning, "I could never survive without it." This just shows how deceptive has been the spirit of this age subverting what is at the essence of the Christian life. That is: Christians cannot live authentically without the cross. "Whoever does not forsake all [that everyone else is living for, longing for, and cannot do without] and take up his cross, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33).

To be Jesus' disciple means to be like Him in embracing the cross and in His will to sacrifice self that the Father might be glorified through the worship of those so redeemed. This means that when I no longer ask, "How am I going to survive?" I am finally free to ask, "How can I serve?" and like Jesus, I move into all of life with freedom, authority, integrity and single-minded purpose.

Someone has said, "There's something worse than dying; it's going through life with nothing to die for." But I think there's something even worse than that. It's going through life never having died! Indeed, having never died, we have nothing to die for! 

Have YOU settled the survival question? To the extent that there is any prior commitment to self, you haven't - and you will always be amazed when you see in someone else the joy and adventure of total commitment. In fact, I predict that you will always be more saddened when you realize that the person you watch with such admiration could have been you.

The only hope

Hope and Change? That has always been the promise - explicitly or implicitly. But, well, little has changed - at least for the good, and the only real hope for the church, the nation, the world is a sweeping movement of the Spirit of God. 

I am more convinced than ever that the onset and then the ongoing significance of such revival in and through any of us will be solely, "By Prayer" - Philippians 4:6.

This that you will see did seem to start with just one man. Please watch this brief clip and consider its closing question:

http://vimeo.com/54376030

Prayer Changes the Man

And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it - John 14:13-14.

In all our praying, however, it is important that we keep in mind that God will not alter His eternal purposes at the word of a man. We do not pray in order to persuade God to change His mind. Prayer is not an assault upon the reluctance of God, nor an effort to secure a suspension of His will for us or for those for whom we pray. Prayer is not intended to overcome God and "move His arm." God will never be other than Himself, no matter how many people pray, nor how long nor how earnestly.

God's love desires the best for all of us, and He desires to give us the best at any cost. He will open rivers in desert places, still turbulent waves, quiet the wind, bring water from the rock, send an angel to release an apostle from prison, feed an orphanage, open a land long closed to the gospel. All these things and a thousand others He has done and will do in answer to prayer, but only because it had been His will to do it from the beginning. No one persuades Him.

What the praying man does is to bring his will into line with the will of God so God can do what He has all along been willing to do. Thus prayer changes the man and enables God to change things in answer to man's prayer. A. W. Tozer. The Price of Neglect, pp. 51-52

Spending Yourself On Yourself

Get A Life! We have heard it or said it; usually to someone who seems to devote a lot of time to silly things or who leads a boring life. 

This is definitely not the Christian life, yet committed followers of Christ are sometimes viewed this way. “Get a life!” they say. Spend your money on yourself. Spend your vacation on yourself. Spend your retirement on yourself. You deserve it. You’ve earned it. Spend yourself on yourself!

But Jesus also speaks to us. In all four Gospels He warns, “The best way to destroy your life is to ‘get’ it!” (John 12:25). Matthew, Mark, and Luke similarly record, “What good does it do to get a life, and then lose it?” (e.g. Mark. 8:36)

We see how irrational this is when we understand that none of the things in life that we handle so casually are even OURS to begin with. Yes, we are talking stewardship here because according to the Bible, a steward cares for someone else’s property.

“Get a Life!” is then bad advice for a Christian on two counts: it is anti-discipleship and it is just plain wrong to steal or misuse another’s property.

This is something that we all spend our lifetimes learning and relearning but we make great strides when we acknowledge these two things and intentionally allow God to direct us. He will then lead us to places and into situations where we “get” the life God has for us – one of richness and abundance of blessing.

by Ray Shive in the Heartbeat section of Vital Signs newsletter

the quarterly update of TEAMS for Medical Missions

The Spirit's Sword - There Is None Like It

In I Samuel 21, when David was running from Saul, he came to Ahimelech and asked for a weapon. When the priest had nothing to offer him but the sword of Goliath, David said to him, "There is none like that. Bring it to me" (21:9). Later in the Scriptures, the writer of Hebrews speaks of another sword; one that is alive, powerful, and sharper than any other (4:12).

Oswald Chambers spiritualizes a parallel between these two weapons: "When Christian workers use the Word of God, they do not damage themselves or hurt others' souls, but they do great damage to the kingdom of the Devil and bring benefit to the souls of human beings."

Some years ago, my wife and I visited a place - a kingdom - where Satan’s control is virtually uncontested; a kingdom of 32 million where 99.8% are Muslim. Only 0.010% profess to be born-again Christians. This was, and is still today, a place shut up tight against avowed missionary work and any open preaching of the Gospel.

The Devil's control of that part of his kingdom is pervasive; the religion that enslaves these millions seems monolithic and indestructible. It is unquestionably rock-like, but it is also one that is just waiting to be smashed in pieces by the mighty hammer (another wonderful metaphor) of God's Word. It does seem to be invulnerable, but it is really an obstacle to be thrust through . . . cut down . . . utterly destroyed by the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

And it has begun to happen. Even in that impregnable fortress of Islam we met people and families who had been themselves penetrated with the sword of God's Word. We also met some who right at that time were starting to feel its keen edge.

After that trip I was more certain than ever that the mighty Word of God is the only means by which damage can be done to an Islamic kingdom . . . or any other realm where the Enemy holds sway. And it is the ONLY way that eternal benefit can be brought to the souls of human beings.

It is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.” It is “the Sword of the Spirit” (Romans 1:16; Ephesians 6:17).

What are you up against today? Is there something of the Devil's kingdom that for you seems unassailable . . . invincible . . . unconquerable? 

Say then of the Sword of the Spirit: “There is none like it. Bring it to me.”

More Wisdom from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

When another Christian falls into obvious sin, an admonition is imperative, because God’s Word demands it. 

The practice of discipline in the community of faith begins with friends who are close to one another. Words of admonition and reproach must be risked when a lapse from God’s Word in doctrine or life endangers a community that lives together, and with it the whole community of faith. Nothing can be more cruel than that leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than that severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin. 

When we allow nothing but God’s Word to stand between us, judging and helping, it is a service of mercy, an ultimate offer of genuine community. Then it is not we who are judging; God alone judges, and God’s judgment is helpful and healing.

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit 

should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Galatians 6:1

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us. Psalm 85:4

From 40-Day Journey With Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Copyright © 2007 Augsburg Books

The Christian's Real Safety

"The Christian's real safety is not in the absence of danger 

but in the presence of a Protector."

A few weeks ago some missionary friends returned to their Central America field after a short furlough. On the three-hour drive, somewhere between the airport and home, gunshots forced them to pull over. They and the other missionary family, also just returning to the field, were threatened, tied up and separated - men from the women and children. All of their belongings were searched and everything of value was taken - a laptop, clothes, home school materials, everything, right down to wedding rings. They were finally released unharmed - very much sobered by what had just happened but also rejoicing that what might have happened did not.

Some time ago a missionary wrote: "Our security meeting today with 30 mission leaders was a time of prayer, many tears, and rejoicing to see God working in spite of the danger here. However, it has been confirmed that ours is the most violent country in the world. The crime, per capita, is eight times that of the United States. North Americans still are a real target. The guerrillas have increased attacks and are focusing on our city . . . We have learned that the MK school where our children attend is under guerrilla surveillance."

With this in mind I began to think of all the missionaries I know or have known that have faced great dangers or difficulties. 

• Some, with their children are in actual physical danger. 
• Others have experienced serious automobile accidents, physical injury, or life threatening sickness - often with only prehistoric treatment (as one missionary described it). 
• Some have seen spiritual children and whole churches - a whole lifetime of work - destroyed by an attractive but false gospel. 
• And there are always the more personal, quiet tests and trials.  

The list goes on and it's a long one but in all of this - for the servant of Christ - there is peace, rest, security.

Our hymns and gospel songs speak of it:  "The Lord's our Rock in Him we hide; a shelter in the time of storm." Or, Till the Storm Passes By - "In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face, While the storms howl above me, And there's no hiding place. In the crash of the thunder, precious Lord hear my cry, 'Keep me safe till the storm passes by.'"

The Scriptures take up this theme time and time again: Isaiah wrote, "For you have been a . . . strength to the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm" (25:4). We read in Proverbs that, "The fear of man brings a snare but whoever puts his trust in the Lord will be safe." And here, to be safe literally means, "set on high"; in one translation, "inaccessibly high" (29:25). The write of Hebrews quotes the Old Testament: "He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So that we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me'" (Hebrews 13:5b, 6).

The missionary's letter went on to ask: "Are we ending our mission here?" The answer: "No. We're just beginning."

He's not in denial. There's no boasting here; nothing cavalier. He says this with confidence because,

"The Christian's real safety is not in the absence of danger 

but in the presence of a Protector."

Self-Discipline Serves the Community

For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 

so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, 

and individually we are members one of another. Romans 12:4-5

Every act of self-discipline by a Christian is also a service to the community. Conversely, there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not harm the whole community. 

When the cause of an illness gets into one’s body, whether or not anyone knows where it comes from, or in what member it has lodged, the body is made ill. This is the appropriate metaphor for the Christian community. Every member serves the whole body, contributing either to its health or to its ruin, for we are members of one body not only when we want to be, but in our whole existence. 

This is not a theory, but a spiritual reality that is often experienced in the Christian community with shocking clarity, sometimes destructively and sometimes beneficially. - Bonhoeffer

Tozer on Pastoral Ministry: A Shaky Foundation

Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me...." —Jeremiah 9:23-24

It is true that much church activity is thrown back upon a shaky foundation of psychology and natural talents. It is sad but true that many a mother-in-law is actually praying that her handsome son-in-law may be called to preach because "he would have such a marvelous pulpit presence."

We live in a day when charm is supposed to cover almost the entire multitude of sins. Charm has taken a great place in religious expression. I am convinced that our Lord expects us to be tough enough and cynical enough to recognize all of this that pleases the unthinking in our churches: the charm stuff, the stage presence in the pulpit, the golden qualities of voice....

I feel sorry for the church that decides to call a pastor because "his personality simply sparkles!" I have watched quite a few of those sparklers through the years. In reality, as every kid knows at Fourth of July time, sparklers can be an excitement in the neighborhood—but only for about one minute! Then you are left holding a hot stick that quickly cools off in your hand. Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts, 32-33.

From "The Words And Wisdom Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer"

Do not worry! 

Earthly goods deceive the human heart into believing that they give it security and freedom from worry. But in truth, they are what cause anxiety. The heart which clings to goods receives with them the choking burden of worry. Worry collects treasures, and treasures produce more worries. We desire to secure our lives with earthly goods; we want our worrying to make us worry-free, but the truth is the opposite. The chains which bind us to earthly goods, the clutches which hold the goods tight, are themselves worries.

Abuse of earthly goods consists of using them as a security for the next day. Worry is always directed toward tomorrow. But the goods are intended only for today in the strictest sense. It is our securing things for tomorrow which makes us so insecure today. It is enough that each day should have its own troubles. Only those who put tomorrow completely into God’s hand and receive fully today what they need for their lives are really secure.

Receiving daily liberates me from tomorrow.

Don’t Complicate the "Missionary Call"

by David Sitton

I was never called to be a missionary, nor was I drafted. I volunteered. No special call was needed. I chose to go; I wanted to go; I was compelled to go. And where I go is always determined by an open Bible and a stretched-out map of the regions where Christ is still unknown and un-praised!

I chuckle when I hear missionaries and pastors talk about “surrendering to the call” of ministry. I always want to ask, “After you surrendered, were you water-boarded, or just hauled off in handcuffs and leg irons.” Was it really necessary for you to be abducted by a heavenly vision before you would go into the work of the gospel?

The missionary call is not like a prison dog that tracks us down, sniffs us out, and hog-ties us for the nations. That is silly-talk and really bad theology. Nowhere in Scripture is a mysterious (supernatural) call a prerequisite before we can respond to the Great Commission. The opposite is actually true.

Don’t Wait for a Call

No aspect of mission is more bogged down with extra-biblical baggage than the “missionary call.”  The clear command of Christ “to go” should be, by itself, sufficient to set you on your way “into all the world. . . proclaiming the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). You can’t go wrong by trying to go. Trust the Lord to direct your moving feet. If you are convinced of your “call” to “stay”, this will only serve as added confirmation that you are right. Don’t fear the risk of ending up some place the Lord doesn’t want you. Too many already took that “risk” when they assumed a stateside ministry or vocation with no confirmation other than their own desires.

Dramatic calls to ministry are the exception. If you have it in your heart to go, then go. Then, lean on the sovereignty of God to get you where he wants you in the harvest. Don’t worry about “running ahead of God.” You aren’t that quick!

Try to Go

Paul tried to go into Asia, but the Lord wouldn’t let him. He then tried to go to Bithynia, but was “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.” Still, he kept trying to go. I count at least six cities in Acts 16 where Paul tried to take the gospel. It was only then that the Lord gave him a vision of the Macedonian. He woke up the next morning and immediately headed for the regions north, having “concluded that God had called them to preach the gospel in Macedonia.

The heavenly vision wasn’t a “call” to mission, it was specific guidance for missionaries that were already going.

The point?  Don’t complicate the missionary call. Get radical with the going and God will get radical in the specific guiding.

David Sitton is the founder and president of To Every Tribe Ministries. David is a career church planting missionary who lived and worked in Papua New Guinea for 16 years, making first gospel contact with several headhunting, cannibalistic tribes.