A Conflict of Interests

Between reading James and The Peacemaker by Ken Sande, God has really been addressing me in this area of conflict and a short quote from the book by Sande has helped me put the two resources together. Sande writes,

"Every time you encounter a conflict, you have an opportunity to show what you really think of God."

Such a short quote, but it is packed with truth. The book of James is written to help Christians see how God's wisdom affects all areas of life and more than that, not just that wisdom would be gathered but also applied. As it relates to conflict, when tempted I have a choice, I can say God's wisdom [His wisdom as it relates to my speech, my actions towards others, my desires] is good and worth following or I can trust my way. In that moment when conflict arises or even when conflict has started, I can display God's sovereignty and goodness and what I think of it, or I can display my craving for sovereignty in wanting things to go my way.

Oh God, I thank you for this humbling reminder and pray with increasing measure in faith and in the strength that you provide that I would reflect your goodness in the conflicts of life.

The Isolation Age

I have this sort of love/hate relationship going with Facebook. In some ways I love it because it allows me to stay in contact with people and find out what friends are up to, but in other ways, it can hinder relationships because I can think that because I am reading someone's Facebook wall, I know them. I'm reading David Wells book, The Courage to be Protestant and this quote really made me think about the way I interact with friends using the media around me,

"We are the Wired Generation living in a mostly electronically mediated world. However, have you noticed that while everyone is speaking, no one is really listening? We are swamped by voices. So many want our time and attention that for our own protectin we shut out most of them. And while we are surfing the Internet, emailing, watching television, or playing video games, we are doing it all alone. We are wired, but we are also more lonely and have fewer confidants that ever before. The Putnam thesis of the 1960s is correct: we are in touch with everyone potentially, but we know and are known by almost no one in particular."[31]

In the city this can be a particular struggle. Though we are surrounded by people, we are alone, even though we are contacting people through the media.
Thinking about this, here is the challenge if we are game. Make personal contact with a different person among your Facebook friends each week. This might not be face to face but that is the ideal. Maybe it is leaving a comment or message about a prayer request or a way God is really teaching you right now, but through this is going beyond just information about people to really knowing them and in turn that we might be able to care for each other and display the love of God in more purposeful and meaningful ways.

As you experience this I would also love to hear what you are learning and how it is going, so please do leave comments.

I have also attached a great blog by Justin Buzzard about how we can use Facebook to fuel instead of replace personal interaction.

Facebook for the glory of God

Convicting Grace

As Paul Tripp points out in his helpful little devotional Whiter than Snow, "We all have a perverse capacity to be comfortable with what God says is wrong."

God's response is to bring conviction and though painful at the time is meant to warn us, protect us and restore us, as Tripp describes,

"God's loving hammer of conviction is meant to break your heart, and the pain of heart you feel is meant to alert you to the fact that something is spiritually wrong inside of you. Like that warning signal of physical pain, the rescuing and restoring pain of convicting grace is a thing worth celebrating." Whiter than Snow, 35

Perhaps you are feeling the pain of conviction, God has used His Word or a faithful friend to point out sin, rejoice today that God is working and pouring out grace to protect you and use this conviction to help you trust and reflect His Son in greater ways. It is God's heart that we grow to see conviction, even though it is painful at times, as true gift from His hand.

Do you really think you are the worst sinner you know?

Some people have asked in coming to City Church and Sovereign Grace about our application of the doctrine of sin and what this means in terms of how we view ourselves. It is the conviction of City Church that we follow Paul's example in describing himself as the "chief of sinners" [1 Timothy 1:15]

What does this mean practically and how does this play out? Listen to the discussion linked as CJ has a very helpful interaction with another pastor wrestling with this concept. Perhaps you have some of these same questions, I pray this blog and video help provide clarity.

Doing Life Together

In thinking about our desire for and pursuit of our biblical fellowship, this quote though from a marriage book, clearly and practically describes the Bible's view of care and what we pray is experienced in our care groups,

"Christian fellowship is an expression of both love and humility. It springs from a desire to bring benefit to others, coupled with a sense of personal weakness and need. It has a double motive - the wish to help, and to be helped; to edify, and to be edified. It has a double aim - to do, and to receive, good. It is a corporate seeking by Christian people to know God better through sharing with each other what, individually, they have learned of him already."

J.I. Packer quoted in Love that Lasts

The effects of the Gospel

A New Year [I know it's January 20th but it's been a crazy month so far] and a new resolve to the blog.

As we walk through our series in Pierced for our Transgressions together, the hope is that it would lead to two major results among us. First, that we would love Jesus more and more as we come to a greater understanding of what He has accomplished on the cross. Second, that it would lead to a greater witness as we recognize our call and the joy in telling people this great news.

As we think about the second result, Ligon Duncan in a blog a few months back realized that a purposeful pursuit of and teaching about the gospel should lead to the following characteristics being lived out among the congregation,

1. That your whole congregation would be able to articulate the Gospel, personally, in a compelling and understandable way;
2. That your whole congregation would understand the importance and necessity of their lives, their prayers and their participation in Gospel witness;
3. That your whole congregation would deeply care about conversions (and I would lay stress here, that we are talking about real conversions, not numbers; disciples, not decisions; changed lives, not merely prayed prayers);
4. That your whole congregation would earnestly and regularly pray for conversions, talks about their own conversions and the conversions of others, and put a priority on people coming to know God; and
5. That your whole congregation would be excited about the Gospel itself, and not simply about a method of sharing the Gospel, or a training program.

I pray as we go through this series together, that these characteristics would increasingly mark our people and bear fruit in our lives and draw others to know Him through us, for His glory.

Waiting on Answers to Prayer

I don't know about you, but perhaps there have been times when there were requests we made to God again and again and we wondered if He is ever going to answer. Prayers for the salvation of a loved one, requests for help or even victory in overcoming a recurring sin have been uttered again and again with no seeming response from our Heavenly Father. Recently, I have been reading Steve Miller's book, C.H. Spurgeon on Spiritual Leadership. In the book, Miller highlights the different aspects of Spurgeon's leadership. The first chapter describes Spurgeon's commitment to prayer personally and for ministry and I was particularly caught by these two quotes,

"Frequently the richest answers are not the speediest...A prayer may be all the longer on its voyage because it is bringing us a heavier freight of blessing. Delayed answers are not only trials of faith, but they give us an opportunity of honouring God by our steadfast confidence in Him under apparent repulses."

"God's answers have never come too soon nor yet too late."

Be encouraged today that if there are prayers that have been uttered 10, 100 or 1000 times, God has heard and He will answer in His perfect time and in His perfect way. He simply calls us as His children to trust Him and to call out to Him in dependence.