Faith Firmly Rooted

As a minister of discipleship within a local church, I can relate many stories of people finding a Bible Study within our church, plugging in, and beginning to grow deep roots in God's word and in their relationship with Christ.

For others, finding the right Bible study can be a challenge.  Here are some things to keep in mind about that.

Ask yourself: Whose job is it to see that I grow spiritually?

Here are the most common answers to such a question.

1. It is my pastor's job

Yes and no on this one.  Your pastor is entrusted with shepherding and  spiritual caring for the "flock" that God has placed under his stewardship.  However, if all you do is come to church, sing some songs, and listen to a sermon once a week, you might or might not actually ever begin to grow spiritually.  Most every pastor (and virtually every pastor worth listening to) would agree that if you really want to start growing spiritually, you'll need to be involving yourself with other believers in Bible study and prayer.  Do you know what statistics are showing to be the number one proven way for churchgoers to begin growing spiritually is? It is simply this: Prayerfully study the Bible when you are not at church!  Your pastor can't force you to do that, but he can certainly influence and encourage you to do so.

2. It is my church's job (or my discipleship pastor's job)

Yes and no on this one. Your church (and your discipleship pastor if you have one) are like your pastor in that they are entrusted with overseeing and facilitating the spiritual development of those God has placed under their stewardship.  However, as much as they labor to assist in people's spiritual growth and make it easy for them, sometimes it doesn't seem to happen.  I occasionally receive complaints from people that they are not growing spiritually...some of whom are deeply involved in a Bible study.  I know...it is a head scratcher.  But even though your church and your ministers strive hard to help you grow spiritually, the job is partly your responsibility as well.  Do you show up to church ready to listen and learn?  Do you attend a Bible study at your church expecting to hear God speak to you through the scripture?  Or are you waiting for just the right Bible study to come along with just the right people with just the right teacher?  You might be waiting a long time. 

3. It is MY job

This might be getting close to the right answer.  It's almost there.  As we said before, you should absolutely take responsibilty for your own spiritual growth.  Don't let obstacles deter you from it.  Your pastor will try to influence and the church should provide avenues for spiritual growth, but nothing is stopping you from picking the Bible up or praying.  Every day, spend time in prayer and Bible study.  Don't let your spiritual growth rise or fall on a Bible study teacher or whether you can manage to squeeze in time for a small group during the week on top of serving and worshipping.  Take ownership of your spiritual development.  Make it your priority.  Rearrange your schedule and priorities if you must.  See if you can let God have your heart every single moment of every single day whether you are at church or not, whether you are reading the Bible or doing anything under the sun!  And yet, the responsibility doesn't rest on you alone...

 

4. It is God's job

Here's a very important truth.  God desires that you grow spiritually.  And He is orchestrating it behind the scenes in countless ways - through the experiences He allows you, through the relationships you have, through the sermons you hear, prayers you pray, conversations you have, etc.  Even when you think you are not growing spiritually, God might strongly disagree.  Watch and pray for eyes to see how He is growing you and stretching your faith even in ways you might not see at first glance.  Write them down if you need to.  The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.  (Philippians 2:12-13)

Notice that there are two things at "work".  We are continuing to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  The idea is that we strive to live in obedience to God and live for Him.  But the second "work" is God's work.  And it is a different tense.  This is a completed work that is already finished.  Someone once said, "We are in the process of becoming who God already sees us as."  Christ saved us.  We are in the process of living like it and in the process of being saved. (The big word for the process is sanctification...we are in the process of being sanctified or made holy or set apart.)  We do our everything to grow spiritually, knowing that it is ultimately God alone who brings it about in our lives, in His own ways and in His own timing and He who started the work in us will be faithful to complete it...and this is so certain that He already HAS completed it! 

Whose job is spiritual growth anyway?  YES...your pastor and your church play a part.  YES...you are accountable for your own spiritual growth.  YES and most emphatically...God grants it, He does it, He gets the job done in His people's lives.     

-RCW

I've lost some weight recently.  And it has caused me to want to ask the question: What does your before and after picture look like?

No, I am not talking about an actual photo or your physical appearance.  What I am really asking is this:

What has changed about you since the day Jesus Christ came into your life?

Don't rush to keep reading.  Look back at the question. 

Make a list.  Here's how:

Make two columns on a sheet of paper.  Label the left column "BC" and label the right column "AC".  ("Before Christ" and "After Christ", silly!)

In the left colum, answer the question: Who were you long before you knew Jesus Christ or invited Him into your life?  Write down a description or some descriptive words that come to mind.  If some characteristics were more dominant than others, bold them or underline them.

Now, when you embraced Jesus as your Lord and Savior, what changed?  In the left column, cross off the things that no longer described you.  If something didn't go away, but has diminished considerably, draw an arrow next to it pointing either up or down (up could mean that you've given that area to God; down could simply mean that it has decreased).

Now, what are you like today?  Write down some things that describe you in the right column.


When you complete that little exercise, what did you find?  For some, it is a drastic difference to see the two columns.  It is a humbling and liberating exercise to see it on paper.  You feel stirred to worship and thank God for the work He has done.  I hope that is you. 

But not everyone has that story.  Many confessing Christians today would go through that exercise and struggle.  They might not be able to recall who they were before Christ.  They might feel strange that the column on the left was not riddled with "bad stuff."  They might feel guilt that the right side and left side are actually fairly similar.

Many confessing Christians today would have trouble describing how Christ has changed them.

What does that mean?

There are a ton of potential reasons.   It may be a mixture of several reasons or be entirely too complicated to put into words.  But let me encourage you...

1. Sometimes God changes us gradually and not all at once.  Be patient as He continues to work in your life.  Trust His hand even when you cannot see it or feel it.
2. Don't get discouraged if you don't have a terrible pre-Christian past.  Thank God for it!  Not all Christians went from "terrible person" to "perfect person" by the world's standards; but spiritually speaking, any person who gives their life to Christ goes from "dead" to "alive", from "wicked and condemned" to "forgiven"...even those that were "good people."
3. Finally, some may need to sober up to the reality that part of the reason that your "chart" might not look right might be the result of a lack of discipleship.  Your spiritual growth stopped the day it was supposed to start.  There are tons of people who make decisions to trust Christ who fail to mature or grow in their relationship with God.  Sometimes this is the fault of a minstry, sometimes it is the fault of the individual, and sometimes there is no real blame upon anyone.  Whatever the case, there is ALWAYS today and tomorrow.  Ask yourself: What am I doing to grow in my walk with Christ?  Have I cheated myself out of a deeper relationship with God?  How can I give more of me to Jesus? Commit to giving Him even more influence, even more control, even more of you.   Give God fertile soil to work with in your life so that you can be firmly rooted and ready to grow.

 -RCW

Since I never quite finished up a series of posts that I had been doing on reading some time ago, I figured today's post could loop back around to add some more thoughts to the subject.  And this time, you don't have to take my word for it alone.  Just watch this video.


At one point, Dr. Mohler says we won't start growing until we start reading.  I don't think he meant that there were no ways to grow spiritually without reading.  (i.e. I doubt if Dr. Mohler is going to tell a blind person who can't read Braille that they are just sore out of luck and can't hope to grow spiritually since they can't read.)

What do you think?  Did you agree/disagree with anything?
-RCW

[The current topic relates back to a previous post I made a long time ago.]


What would it take to make your spiritual life your number one priority?


For many of us, the question is almost offensive. I've even heard it asked, "How would your life look differently if you really began to obey God's word and live it out as though it were true?"


The question may be offensive, but it is one we must daily ask ourselves if we want to take Jesus' words seriously.  For real...what's your #1?  Do you seek Christ, knowing Him, honoring Him, knowing His will and doing it above everything else?  Do it and you'll find that everything else suddenly comes into focus, priorities find their proper place, and things are rightly aligned.  Jesus spoke of this when he said:

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Mt. 6:33

          and

"The most important [commandment],” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’" Mk 12:29-30 

Spiritual self-examination is so very Biblical. When was the last time you did a spiritual pulse-check?  Don't wait 'til your life is already wrecked to give God first place.  A great starting point is Psalm 119.



Get alone somehow with God today and pray this prayer: 


"Search me, Oh God and know my heart. Test me and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me into the way everlasting..."  (Ps. 119)


-RCW

So, Jesus told his disciples and -- by extension -- us in Matthew 28:19-20: 


"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." 


The main instruction that Jesus gave His followers was to make disciples.  (Go is actually a participle and could even be translated "as you go" or "while going" or "when you go.")


So, here is my primary question.  If you consider yourself a follower of Christ, how are you involving yourself in making disciples?  Is that a job reserved for pastors?  Is that a job reserved for the spiritually elite?  By no means!  Making disciples ought to be the business of every true follower of Christ.


So what is stopping you?  There are plenty of possible inhibitors.  Here are some biggies:

• Popular Inhibitor #1 - Maybe you have no concept of what "making disciples" looks like in a 21st century context.  That's okay.  If you are wondering whether Jesus wants you to wear sandals and a toga, speak in thees and thous and ask 12 random people to follow you around day and night, you've got the wrong mental picture.  The next time you are at church, ask your discipleship pastor how you personally can get involved making disciples.  You might teach a class, you might mentor a young believer, you might serve within the church, or facilitate some curriculum with a small group.  Making disciples means creating more followers of Jesus and helping His existing followers follow Him more closely.  Believe it or not -- anybody who is following Jesus can do those things. 

May God bless you in your efforts and grow you as you aid others in following Christ more closely.  Email me if you need help!  More on this to come...


-RCW

One of the things that gets talked about the least when it comes to discipleship is the importance of service.

It's surely a very important thing to begin your walk with Christ by reading the Bible and spending time in prayer and devotion with God, etc. Yet, sometimes putting your faith into action becomes an enormous catalyst for spiritual growth.

I once heard someone say, "I'm so tired of coming to church and having responsibilities...I just want to go back to when I could show up, sit, get fed, and leave."  I've been there too.  But honestly?  Would that not be a step backward?  Sure, there are times when God may be calling us to rest and retreat from the work (Jesus went to the mountainside alone to pray with good regularity throughout his ministry).  But God also demands that we not simply acquire knowledge about Him and never put it into practice.  What God reveals to you He intends for you to share with others.

I've been around a lot of Christian academic types.  I love them.  I resonate with them.  But it broke my heart that time and again the seminary students who knew the most were quite often the students who served the least.  (Many of them wouldn't even attend church!)  God didn't mean for you to soak up truths like a sponge.  Once you start growing, you had better start serving.  And for some people, they would say that they really didn't start growing until they started serving.

Get your hands dirty doing work for God.  Feed the hungry.  Donate your time and energy.  Set up some chairs or tables at church.  Visit a shut-in.  Offer to fold or stuff some newsletters.  Scrub a toilet for Jesus.  Coach an Upward team.  Teach 3 year olds in the nursery.  The next time a minister asks you to help with something, do something crazy and just say yes.  Better yet, go ask your church leaders where you can help and maybe even use your spiritual gifts.  American churches are generally plagued by a lack of volunteers.  Why?  It's because everyone wants to receive from church, but nobody wants to give.  Our consumer-driven culture has caused our churches to be full of consumer-minded Christians.  Don't be part of the problem.  Be a part of the solution.  Get in the game...for God's sake!

-RCW

YES, I HAVE SOME SPLAININ' TO DO
So it has definitely been a while since my last post...(about 10 months to be exact!)  I really don't like making excuses and never have...It's a nasty habit to break if you start getting comfortable or used to doing it.

Nevertheless, I will say that for the past few months, things have been very trying within my household...My wife went into labor just hours after my last post in March of 2011.  We now have a beautiful baby girl and my life has certainly never been the same.  

I also navigated a transition in ministry (that's minister talk for "After 9 to 18 gut-wrenching months of soul-searching and intense prayer, I got a new assignment from God"), relocated my family about 1,000 miles away from where we were, began a new job (still working in the area of adult discipleship for a church), and celebrated my 30th birthday as well! 

But all of this change, pain, prayer, upheaval, and adjusting has been a tremendous positive.  And as a new dad, I am overwhelmed by the transformation that having a child makes.  The birth of my daughter has transformed who I am.  Here's why.  Let the one with ears to hear -- hear:


MARRIAGE MEANS THAT MY DISCIPLESHIP IS ALL AT ONCE EASIER, HARDER, & OF GREATER CONSEQUENCE...
As a follower of Christ, we are called to daily deny our self, take up the instrument of our torturous death, and follow Him (Luke 9:23).  When a follower of Christ gets married, it is as though God reveals three things.

At first, God seems to make it easier to obey Him and die to self.  After all, a married person has a more routine daily need to deny themselves.  This is simply natural to any good marriage...You have to take into consideration the interests of another and compromise sometimes because it's not all about you anymore.  It's now about 2 people together laying aside their own agendas to be one.  It's such an immediate necessity, that it should be easier, right?  Wrong.

Soon enough, we realize that God (and our spouse!) is challenging us.  What was seemingly going to be easier turns out to be very difficult.  God has designed marriage as a process by which we are forced to lean more greatly upon His wisdom, relying less and less on our own ability.  In other words, God designed marriage to make you more like Him.  Our selfishness is quite often exposed and we can fail both God and our spouse rather frequently. 

Finally, unless we surrender our selfishness, our marriage is going to suffer.  In fact, our marriage could be a wreck until we sacrifice our selfishness.  Once wed to another, your spiritual life (or lack thereof) now effects someone else greatly every single day.


...BUT PARENTHOOD MEANS AN EVEN GREATER CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP
The day you become a father--which, by the way, is the day your honey finds out she is prego and not simply the day your child is born--everything changes again.  You are called to an even greater amount of surrender to God.  It is SO not about you any longer.  In fact, it couldn't be any less about you.  "Children change a marriage" to be sure...I read that book.  They also change a person.  For the Christ-follower, parenthood is just an even more serious call to die to self, take up the cross daily, and follow the Master.

God has given me a daughter and entrusted her care to my wife and me.  Thanks, Jesus, for making it both easier and harder to drop my selfishness, deny my self, and follow after you more closely.  After all, the stakes just keep getting higher. 

Keep me broken, Lord.   Amen.

-RCW        

P.S. Yes, I know I failed miserably to accomplish my goal of blogging more in 2011.  But in my defense, the lack of comments on the site doesn't exactly display a great amount of disappointment from anyone!  ;)  Lordwilling, there will be more writing forthcoming in 2012.

I hope you are enjoying the recent series of posts regarding reading and learning as a part of healthy growth in the Christian faith.  If you are, I hate to break it to you, but this entry is only minimally related to that topic.

My wife is about 2 weeks from her due date.  We are welcoming our first child into this world in just a handful of days.  It's truly a wonderful, scary, and exciting time.  And although I did read a great book in the early months that helped me tremendously to process the reality that I was going to be a dad, my emotions (as well as my wife's) have been all over the place.
 
But aside from my wife and I's own prayerful anxiety about bringing a daughter into this world, the real story is --- well, our daughter.  In less than a couple of weeks, a new life will emerge from our lives.  She will be --- all at once --- her mother and me.  This new bundle of joy is going to be welcomed into our family and is going to experience real life!  What a miracle!

But here is what I have been thinking of today... What if my daughter never grew?  What if we fed her and loved her and did everything we could to help her develop as she ought, and she simply wouldn't grow?  God forbid it, but would that not be awful?  It would be an unbelievable abnormality that would very likely put her life itself in serious jeopardy.

But the gripping fact is that Christians do the same thing all the time.  And frequently, churches don't do much to help.  A person might make a decision, walk an aisle, check a box, or pray a prayer...in some way he or she accepts Jesus Christ and enters into new life in Christ.  Hooray!  We have a new creation!  A spiritual infant has been "born again" into God's family!  (Is this not the very Biblical metaphor that Jesus used?)  What an amazing miracle!  And yet, most will stagnate.  Most will not grow.  Most will remain spiritual babes.  Most will seldom nourish themselves with the scriptures, pray, or serve God with any consistency.  Worse still, a few weeks, months, or years may pass so that being still infants in Christ, they begin to wonder why their life isn't all that much different.  They may even seriously question their original decision or feel duped by those that offered them this "new life" in Christ.  It happens ALL.....THE.......TIME. 

I personally work for a church.  If I were to summarize my role there, I'd say my job is to help Christian adults grow and develop in their faith.  Would it surprise you if I told you that I tend to desire the spiritual growth of those adults far more than they desire it?  (This is not a slam to the church I work at...it is simply a statement of the actuality that faces most congregations in the U.S.).  
 
So how can you start growing? Here's a great starting point:

1. Get a good Bible.  Read it regularly, take notes, write down what you learn and what questions you have, even underline and memorize the verses that strike you as worth memorizing.
2. Ask God to help you grow, believe that He'll bring it about, and desire it more than anything else.
3. Plug into an authentic Biblical community that strives to help you spiritually develop.  Get to know a few committed Christians within that community that you can tell are serious about their relationship with God and live it out in all they do.
4. Begin to use and even leverage your natural abilities, skills, gifts, possessions, time, finances, and your whole self to be a part of spreading the good news about Christ and living out your faith with everything God gives you.  In short, serve God and be a steward of what He's given you so that you might bring Him glory. 

If you already feel like you've done the above, check yourself.  Ask yourself these tough questions and answer honestly:

1. When was the last time I spent time reading my Bible?  Am I faithfully involved in personal Bible study and time alone with God?  Have I read any spiritually nourishing material lately?
2. How much time do I spend in prayer?  Do I talk to God about everything?  Do I talk to God throughout the day?  Or do I simply reserve prayer for before meals, at church, before bed, etc.?  When I do pray, do I just ask him for stuff I want, or do I actually have a real relationship with Him that goes beyond that type of interaction?
3. Is my church committed to seeing me grow spiritually?  Do they care as much about turning me into a faithful and authentic follower of Christ as they do about seeing new people pray the same prayer I did to receive Christ?  Have I sought and found Biblical community within my local church?  Have I involved myself with other believers and developed strong relationships there or have I been passive and retreated from being known by others?  Is the Biblical community I am involved with at church really serious about growing or are we just a social group that seems stuck and apathetic?
4. Finally, how am I serving and being a steward?  Am I giving faithfully of my time, talents, money, and energy to see God's rule and reign in the hearts and lives of others?  Or am I holding back and sitting on the sidelines?  What more could I be doing to further God's work in my church, in my community, and in my world?
5. If people followed me around all day every day for a month, would my life clearly tell them that I am a follower of Christ who reflects who He is?

-RCW

One of my many favorite philosophers is Francis Bacon...*

Bacon had some pretty sound advice when it comes to reading.  You can find it in his essay                "Of Studies":


              Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and       
              discourse; but to weigh and consider.  Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and 
              some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts;                     
              others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention... 

In layman's language,  Bacon is saying:

    Don't read a book...

• simply to prove it wrong.   [He wasn't really talking about the Bible, but many skeptics read the Bible this way...with their conclusions already deeply fixed in their mind before they've read a single word.] 

• thinking it or its author is beyond error.  [Again, he wasn't really talking about the Bible, but many people do read it this way**...and I'm not entirely sure that Bacon would have had a problem with it though I'm definitely no Francis Bacon expert.] 

• just to have something to talk about with others.  [These people are annoying...especially since they rarely choose anything worthwhile to read.  I don't think Francis Bacon would think of People magazine or Cosmo as "reading" or "studies" if you're wondering.]

    Instead, Bacon suggests that we read a book in order that we might weigh and consider what it
    is saying.  Read a book with your brain turned on, using your critical thinking skills -- not distrusting
    the book, nor being overly trusting of the book to the point of naivety.   

Many Christians I know (and tragically, even some pastors) have far too much trouble even knowing how to discern what is a good book from what is in all reality not.  I have personally lamented that the problem with America is not that we can't read, it is that we don't read.  And even the people who do read, too often don't read anything worthwhile. 

Thoughts?  Comments?

-RCW

* I mostly enjoy Bacon's essays and am much less fond of his idealistic modernist belief that science and technology could ultimately create a Utopian society.  The twentieth century, postmodernism, and human experience have since well-refuted that fanciful notion [although Biblical wisdom had refuted the idea ages before].  If you want to understand modernity and my last couple of sentences a little bit better, read this book.  As for Bacon, I know for certain that he was a theist, and I think to a lesser extent some people conclude he was a Christian.  And if you're wondering, No, I don't believe he's any relation to Kevin Bacon.
 
** I have no problem with people reading the Bible this way provided they also at some point recognize that while the Bible is a divine book, the Bible didn't magically float down from heaven.  God didn't bypass the humanity of the human writers, their circumstances, their language, their personalities, their brains, their emotions, or the like when He inspired them to write. But this blog entry is not really meant to be about Biblical inerrancy, infallibility, inspiration, etc.

In my last entry, I shared that this year I hope to blog more frequently than I did last year…but I’m still not getting crazy with 1 post per day or anything.  To help me blog more, I have a plan that I believe most of you will appreciate. And it has to do with a time long ago and a land far away...Africa in fact!  It involves 2 cities in particular -- Alexandria and the city formerly known as Hippo -- along with a few of those cities' noteworthy locals.  Curious yet?

To get you started thinking about this subject, let me ask you a question:

           Do you think that it is beneficial to a person’s growth as a Christian to read:

                 A) Christian books and non-Christian books and the Bible

                 B) Just Christian books and the Bible

                 C) Just the Bible

                    [or]

                 D) Reading isn’t important at all in the growth of a Christian


You may choose only one. Why did you answer the way you did?

-RCW

One of the very first basic lessons I ever learned in my walk with Christ was at an early age. I was fortunate to learn it early, but it seems that at certain periods of my life I have had to force myself to relearn it...

Of what am I speaking? I am speaking about my identity in Christ.

It is a huge concept and yet such a simple one at the same time. When I gave my life to Christ, I became His own. I became His child. I became a new creation fashioned in His likeness. I became set apart and content in Him. I became happy with me because of who He was and who He was making me. I began to draw my self-worth from Him alone...and He values me more than anyone ever could value me!

But don't take it from me alone. This foundational truth is hammered home in Scripture. Ephesians chapters 1 through 3 are a great read on the subject, but if you're in a hurry, here are a few verses.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. [Eph. 2:1-10]

The question “Who Am I?” is both theoretical and philosophical as well as practical and deeply personal. It is a question that everyone deals with throughout the entire course of their lifetime. For the believer, it is a wonderful truth that –- no matter what the world's categories may say about us, whatever we may be feeling about our own self worth (good or bad), whatever we might think about who we are –- all other “identities” get placed at the feet of the Lord. It is Him we depend upon to properly understand our selves, our personality, our emotions, our feelings, our habits, our gifts, our skills, our desires, our ambitions, and everything else about ourselves.  It is God who defines us and not we who define us.

Today, examine the Bible for yourself and ask God to remind you that you are his child. Ask God to remind you this day of your worth, His love for you, your satisfaction in Him, your trust in Him, and your contentment in who He is...and in who you are.


-RCW

A while back, I was asked about the biblical concept of "regeneration."  It may come as a stunning newsflash that "regeneration" is NOT the supernatural ability for charismatic believers to have a limb severed from their body only to suddenly sprout a new one like a sea-star or hydra.  

I know that there is sometimes confusion or disagreement over what is meant by the term "regeneration."  You could take my own explanation of what regeneration is, but I'd rather not have to do as much thinking at the moment (to be quite honest).  Instead, let me provide you with a handy and concise explanation from my own current denomination's doctrinal statement:

Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.  Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.

-RCW

I'll never forget the first few weeks when I began to understand that God was leading and calling me into ministry.    I recall walking into my youth pastor's office and letting him know what I understood God to be doing in my life and communicating to me. 

His response was simple.  He first told me that he would meet with me once a week at 5 am on a certain day.  At the first meeting, he asked me a question.  "Are you a reader?"

I was dumbfounded.  I thought quickly about the fact that I despised reading and loathed the very thought of English class.  I stammered -- "Uh.....not really."  His response was direct and firm, "Well, you're going to have to become one."

I began to love reading from those few weeks onward and to this day I absolutely cannot get enough.  (I have a lifetime reading plan for myself!)   

Does it seem like an odd connection to you?  Why in the world would someone who is heading toward ministry need to become a reader?  Do you think he was right?  Do you think he was wrong?  Why?  I'd love to hear your "take."       

Alright, so if I haven't thrown enough resources at people at my workplace and through this blog, I must beg your forgiveness and continue the trend.

At the church I work for, I have recently recruited a professor from a nearby university to come teach a class for our lay equipping ministry.  The class is essentially about what it means to take seriously the command we've been given in Scripture to love the Lord our God with all our mind.

Recently I was checking out some different websites of people who are in my same profession...people who are responsible for trying to help Christians (particularly Christian adults) grow in their faith in order that they might mature as believers in Jesus Christ and follow after Christ with all that they are.

To be certain, if you know me, you'd know that this is by no means meant to be a "plug" or endorsement of any church or ministry.*  However, a great SIMPLE idea is this 10 for 10 challenge:     
       http://10for10challenge.org  (Just click on the video in the center that reads "What is 10 for 10?)

If you can't watch the video, don't fret.  The 5 ideas in the video are listed below:

• Memorize 10 scriptures this year
• Serve as a volunteer in 10 ministry projects
• Give 10 percent of your income to your local church
• Spend 10 minutes a day with God via Bible Study and prayer
• Share Christ with 10 people

So, what do you think?  Could you manage to do one or all of these 5 spiritual disciplines in a year's time?  To some people, it might seem elementary, but for others, it is just the small starting point that they need to begin practicing and doing God's word.


-RCW

P.S.  *This could never be an endorsement because I, like the rest of my generation, am so anti-establishment, anti-propaganda, cynical, anti-schmooze, anti-infomercial, anti-artificial, anti-inauthentic.  (Although incidentally the church that this came from is a good church - my wife and I even did some of our premarital counseling there).

I have already received some feedback from my post yesterday.

First, the person brought to my attention how ridiculously long the entry was. (A realization that I already had observed for myself).  My sincere apologies for being so verbose.  :)

Next, the person said that as they read, they could see where my agenda was headed.

This has prompted me to clarify that I did not aim to poke fun, be rude, or mock Christians (much).  I can do this because I am one.  Rather, my posting was a way of bringing into focus for both myself and others that which is truly essential for the new believer.  We try all too often to make certain things important that are not.  We expect a new Christian to suddenly follow a long list of dos and don'ts that (to us) are basic or inherent for someone who wants to follow Christ.  It was my purpose to challenge all of us to think about what is essential for the early stages of someone's discipleship.


 
-RCW

Okay, does anyone truly know what some of the most important first steps are for a new follower of Christ?  Imagine that you've just led someone to Christ...perhaps they even live in another country and come from a different culture.  What are the first things that you think they should do, know, or learn to embrace?

Why don't I let you sort through some options below.  Go through the list and mark (or for you lazies, just make a mental note of):
         A) Items that seem to be of foremost importance,
         B) Things that are important but not urgent,
         C) What seems to be less important, and finally
         D) What seems not to be important at all!

Below are some options: 

• Be baptized
• Start a daily quiet time
• Read the Bible daily
• Memorize scripture
• Find a church that teaches the Bible 
• Tell someone else about Jesus
• Invite a Friend to Church
• Write out their personal testimony
• Find a small group
• Attend a Bible study
• Keep a journal
• Spend time in prayer daily
• Learn core doctrines and essential beliefs of Christianity
• Read a good Christian book
• Start volunteering and serving in a church
• Attend a weekly worship service with other believers
• Begin taking communion
• Read a Christian self-help book about their most pressing issues or questions
• Go on a mission trip
• Share Christ with all their family members
• Have all their children baptized or sprinkled
• Give money to their church
• Start caring about other people
• Sing in a church choir or join a praise band
• Learn to play a harp
• Greet their brothers and sisters (fellow church members) with a holy kiss
• Handle snakes
• Speak in tongues
• Teach a "Sunday School" class for little children
• Learn to play praise songs on a guitar
• Purchase a Bible commentary or Bible dictionary
• Avoid controversy or scandal at all cost
• Make sure to be liked by all.  Don't be too opinionated.
• Find a good translation of the Bible that they can understand
• Act holy
• Never tell someone that their interpretation of the Bible is wrong
• Use "thee," "thou," "thy," and "thine" in everyday language
• Wear a WWJD bracelet
• Buy and wear Christian t-shirts
• Burn any secular music that they own
• Get rid of all rated R movies
• Give up drinking
• Give up smoking
• Give up use of illegal drugs
• Start making disciples
• Read the entire Bible from cover to cover
• Go to confession
• Walk down an aisle to pray with a pastor
• Visit the sick in the hospital
• Sponsor a small child from a poverty-stricken land
• Throw a party inviting all their Christian friends
• Start making Christian friends
• Discern their spiritual gifts
• Learn how to study their Bible
• Lead other Christians
• Try to convert their entire workplace to Christianity
• Visit people in a nursing home
• Invite a widow from church over for dinner
• Go to the homes of any new visitors to the church to chat and pray
• Become a deacon or elder
• Serve on a church committee
• Become a pastor
• Give up their job to become a preacher
• Sell their possessions and give the money to the poor
• Camp out on a hill and wait for Jesus to return
• Feed the homeless
• Buy Christian music
• Watch Christian movies
• Stop using foul language
• Try to be perfect
• Try to be a good person or a good Christian
• Always smile
• Shake people's hands at church
• Become an extrovert rather than an introvert
• Be nice to everyone and never raise their voice
• Stop being friends with anyone who is not a Christian
• Take a class at a seminary or theological school
• Rearrange their priorities to honor God
• Love their neighbor as themselves
• Love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength
• Sing a lot (both out loud and to themselves)
• Become a reader
• Give money to missionaries
• Take a concern for their family (Love and provide for their spouse and children)
• Get and keep a job
• Judge others
• Be a really serious person all the time
• Don't laugh at dirty jokes or approve of anyone that does
• Don't dance
• Don't get any tattoos and try to have any current tattoos removed
• Give up television
• Don't eat meat during lent
• Always attend a church on Christmas and Easter
• Join the PTA
• Add the prefix "Christian" to their job title (if they were an artist, they should try to be a Christian artist; if they were a lawyer, they should try to be a Christian lawyer, etc.)
• Ask someone to help them grow in their faith
• Try to be healthier
• Rely entirely on the Holy Spirit to lead 
• Vote Republican
• Send out Christian forwards and chain letters to the entire email address book
• Study intensely what the Bible teaches about the end times
• Shop at Christian bookstores
• Give up eating pork
• Give your business to Christian businesses (Eat at Chick-Fil-A and shop at Hobby Lobby)
• Quit buying gifts for Christmas or hunting eggs at Easter
• Scorn the affairs of this world and set the mind on eternal things above
• Raise their kids to be Christians
• Drag their unbelieving spouse to church and pressure them to convert
• Fast for forty days (or at least a few days here and there)
• Eat only vegetables
• Learn Greek and/or Hebrew and/or Latin
• Quit dating their unbelieving boyfriend/girlfriend
• Quit cheating on their spouse
• Post scriptures around the house...especially on decorative pieces like doormats, pictures, picture frames, etc.
• Advise them never to let anyone know anything is wrong
• Leaving their past behind, have them discern their new calling from God and their new vocation
• Change their name
• Have them adopt American culture, habits, and customs if they are from a different land or culture
• Learn to savor and enjoy life
• Be or become very prude in the bedroom
• Flee sexual immorality
• Disassociate from certain previous negative influences
• Find a Christian friend to be an accountability partner
• Become a motivational speaker
• Start a Christian non-profit organnization
• Read books by C.S. Lewis
• Listen to as many sermons as possible
• Learn to like old hymns
• Develop serious opinions about church and share them frequently
• Meet with a pastor
• Ask questions to fellow Christians
• Dislike homosexuals and prositutes
• Condemn adultery and adulterers
• Drop out of the secular college and enroll in a Christian one
• Move children to private school rather than public
• Homeschool the children
• Take a marriage enrichment class
• Donate old clothes to a shelter
• Adopt an orphan
• Renew the wedding vows
• Flee from materialism and superficiality
• Be eternally optimiistic
• Discover the power of positive thinking
• Be passive
• Be anti-war and/or anti-guns
• Don't argue with anyone on any occasion
• Be submissive to everyone else
• Respect God-given authorities including government leaders
• Always vote in elections (and usually after careful research)
• Develop an opinion about everything
• Become quick to listen and slow to speak
• Don't gossip
• Don't lie
• Don't steal 
• Practice animal sacrifices
• Take up yoga
• De-clutter the home
• Always keep a tidy house
• Don't ever show sadness
• Endure pain stoically, knowing that God is allowing it, so it must be good
• Never question Christian beliefs or doubt God
• Have perfect attendance at church
• Jog daily
• Give up all personal ambitions and goals
• Join a convent
• Divorce spouse because "they hinder, discourage, weaken, challenge or suppress spiritual growth"
• Wear cross jewelry
• Put a statue of a saint, an apostle, or Mary in the lawn
• Make the doorbell and your telephone ring play Christian songs
• Take notes during sermons
• Jot notes here and there in the Bible
• Hang out in Christian coffeehouses
• Go to Christian concerts
• Listen to Christian radio & Christian talk radio
• Feel severe guilt for any wrongdoing
• Expect moral excellence from others (especially Christians and most especially from pastors)
• Practice the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, self-control)
• Be everyone's friend and nobody's enemy
• Don't be lazy
• Do your job well (Be a good employee)
• Treat any personal employees well (Be a good employer)
• Show mercy to everyone
• Forgive everyone of everything
• Remove all memory of the past
• Develop a regular seat or spot at which to sit during the church worship service.  Challenge anyone that might try to fill it.
• Sing all of your sentences
• Flee from pessimists
• Give up sodas
• Manage weight and physical appearance well
• Shower at least once per day
• Keep a day-timer and follow it to the tee
• Be responsible
• Be punctual
• Be friendly
• Always be considerate and hospitable toward newcomers, foreigners, visitors, the less fortunate, etc.
• Go on Christian vacations
• Feel guilty relaxing
• Master the interpretation of scripture
• Study theology and theologians
• Scorn philosophy
• Embrace the study of philosophy
• Change college major from a secular field to a Christian one
• Read Christian magazines
• Watch Christian television
• Give up caffeine
• Only use Christian breath-mints
• Buy children a precious moments Bible
• Own at least 1 Thomas Kincaid painting 
• Own at least 2 Willow Tree figures
• Have the children watch Veggie Tales
• Only read Christian authors and preferably only those that are in agreement with the reader
• Go gluten free
• Give up artificial sweeteners
• Eat only organic foods
• Boycott Disney, McDonalds, and/or Wal Mart
• Dislike sports since they are a frivolous worldly concern
• Don't wear expensive clothes
• Feed the hungry and warm those who are cold
• Care for others more than self
• Surrender the self
• Learn definitions and start using big theological words like "sanctification" and "propitiation"
• Fill life with God and scripture by attending 7 Bible studies a week....one each night
• Plan a will since either the rapture or second coming could happen at any moment
• Read the Left Behind series
• Watch TBN
• Never own a home over a certain price range
• Always be ready to give advice...people really need it
• Give the pastor(s) and church workers advice...they really need it
• Be an encourager of others
• Only engage in sexual activity for the purpose of having children
• Be a morning person
• Don't live with a boyfriend or girlfriend until married
• Preach "turn or burn" repentance to everyone at the family reunion
• Always carry a Bible everywhere
• Wear sandals and grow a beard if possible
• If female, always remain silent at church and wear a head-covering.  Also never be caught dead teaching men.
• Try to impress other Christians however possible...with knowledge of the Bible, popularity, friendliness, godliness, humility, etc.

Well, I hope that this activity has been both humorous as well as thought-provoking.  Now for some reflection questions:

How much of what you think is important is actually central to Christian belief and following Christ?

How much of what your church thinks is essential to following Christ is actually essential?

What items did you rank as most important and most urgent?  Why did you rank them there?


Sometimes it is difficult to determine that which is beneficial from that which is essential.  Sometimes it is difficult to determine that which is important from that which really isn't important at all.  I hope this was interesting and challenging!  Got thoughts?  Feel free to share!

-RCW

Well, 2009 has come and gone and evidently, my informants ESPN alerted me a few days ago (with their "top ten plays of the decade" and whatnot) that a decade has drawn to a close.  This of course should not have been news to me, but somehow my silly brain was imagining that it would be another year (at the completion of 2010) that such a "turn-of-the-page" would come.  Seeing as how I have only lived through a couple of these decade things, and seeing as how the last one changed when I was all of 18, I am hit with the magnitude of the occasion.

Not wanting to let the moment slip by without sneaking in a quick line, I worked to squeeze in time for a post.

I have spoken before of how the Christian life---from our birth, to our spiritual birth or conversion, and throughout our entire life until our dying day---is a process.  It is a spiritual journey in which God is drawing us closer to Himself.  We may not always understand how or why or that it is even happening, but for Christians walking with God, He is perfecting us all the while and transforming us back into the image-bearers He meant for us to be...in the image of Christ. I have written about this subject (sanctification) previously.

With that spiritual and theological reality firmly in mind, let me ask you----could you adequately map your spiritual journey in words or art or music or a line graph or some medium of the sort?  What if you reflected on where God has brought you, what He has done in you, what He has transformed about you and when by the decade?  Where were you spiritually in the early 80s?  What changed about your faith by the mid 90s?  What did God do in your life by 2000 or by the time you had children, etc?  This is a spiritual journey and it is important (even very Hebrew) to walk forward through life looking backwards over your shoulder and recalling the great things that God has done.  This reflection is also healthy, deeply rewarding, and often humbling.  It also happens to be a marvelous spiritual exercise to start any new year.

Have a happy one!

-RCW

P.S. One of the astonishing things about this sort of activity is that you may at times be tempted to think that you had certain times or years when you were far from God or that you felt distant from Him.  Let me encourage you that it is often in our lowest and bleakest of states that God is doing the most refining and bringing about the most spiritual growth in our lives.  If I were to graph the spiritual "valleys" of my life, I doubt very much if God would chart them as valleys...to Him they might be mountaintops.  For it is when we are weakest---when we must lean most closely upon Him for everything---that His power is perfected in us.  To adapt some words from A.W. Tozer: "Before God can use a man greatly, He has to break a man deeply." 

P.P.S. For you theology dorks like me out there, Wayne Grudem provides a good spiritual growth graph of this sort in his Systematic Theology in the section on sanctification.   

A few of my recent posts have reminded me of yet another subject.

A classic pet peeve of mine is the enormous amount of "Bible Lore" out there. How many times have you been talking with someone and they say, "Well, the Bible says, 'God helps those who help themselves.'"?  No, the Bible does not say that phrase anywhere. It actually came from Ben Franklin.

Another great one..."God won't give you more than you can handle."  The Bible actually doesn't say this.  (Try "quoting" such a "scripture" to a person in a serious crisis.  Let me know how that one goes.)  You won't find the reference because it's not there.

In general, I simply hear the words come from someone's mouth: "Doesn't it say in the Bible somewhere...." or "What's the verse in the Bible that says something about..." and I begin to brace myself for the shock. I never know what nonsense might sputter out after the first few words. :)

The Bible (and spiritual things in general) is one of those subjects that everyone has an opinion about....many people are eager to share their own.  Many people think they know fairly well what the Bible says, but in reality haven't studied it for themselves a whole lot.  In short, "Bible Lore" results is a lot of muddled thinking about spirituality and numerous common myths about Christianity, Christians, God, the Bible, etc.  

So, here's a novel thought: how about we all make it a goal of ours to READ our Bibles and MEMORIZE scripture? That way, instead of being guilty of such embarrassing blunders of biblical illiteracy, we can know God's word, hide it deep within our hearts, and be ready to explain the scriptures the next time someone rattles off one of these statements. 

I myself am by no means immune or beyond this fault.  I have been praying and asking God to reveal some things to me lately and yet I know that the easiest way to hear God's voice is to open and "devour" my Bible. How about you?  Are you planting scripture within you?  Or is your Bible just a dusty relic?   When was the last time you cracked it open? 

-RCW