My New Book “Bless-ed” Is Now Out! Almost. Blessing #6!

Friends:

My new book, Bless-ed! Fifty-Two Weekly Blessings You Have as a Believer and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs will soon be available on Amazon here. I have advanced copies if you are interested. I will send you a copy for $10 (which includes shipping). Here’s Blessing #6 in Bless-ed:

Bless-ed! 52 Weekly Blessings You Have As A Believer — and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs

Blessing #6: The Blessing of Somewhere to Go with My Guilt

“Guilt is regret for what we’ve done. Regret is guilt for what we didn’t do.” (Mark Amend)

My friend Mike has got me thinking about what I have as a believer and what those who are lost don’t have. I can say without fear of contradiction – based on Mike’s words – that he is indeed lost and won’t (at this point) accept what God’s Word says about him.

Let’s consider another blessing that believers ought to appreciate and that is –

6. WE HAVE SOMEWHERE (BEYOND THIS WORLD) TO GO WITH OUR GUILT!

THE BLESSING “Guilt is the thief of life”, said the actor Anthony Hopkins. Of course, there’s both legitimate and illegitimate guilt. We often feel guilty about things that don’t matter. And, more to the point, we seldom feel true guilt about the things that are of God and are of eternal significance. Someone has said, “Never feel guilt while doing what’s best for you.” The problem, of course, is that we often don’t know what’s best for us.

Biblical guilt is healthy and indicates that our conscience (molded by God’s Word) is working! But we don’t need to stay in our guilt. As one author says, “We are not built for guilt, and it damages our souls and personalities — even our health.”

THE BIBLE: God’s Word has much to say about guilt. For example:

1. Some people are guilty of an eternal sin by blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mark. 3:29). Is this sin possible today? Yes, in the sense that rejecting the Spirit’s witness to the identity of Jesus excludes one from salvation.
2. Tragedies in life are not necessarily the result of personal sin or guilt (Luke 13:4). Violent accidents and vicious crimes are part of our broken world.

3. Guilt remains on those who claim they can see spiritually, but reject Christ (John 9:41). A lack of awareness of one’s guilt doesn’t eliminate one’s responsibility.
4. Both Jesus’ words and works condemn as guilty those who reject Him (John 15:22, 24). The evidence for the Person of Christ is irrefutable.

5. One who takes communion in an unworthy manner is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor. 11:27). This is why many churches have a moment of reflection before they take the elements of the Lord’s Supper.

6. The believer’s heart of guilt can by cleansed by repentance and a faith in the Lord (Heb. 10:22). Psalm 32:5 says, “And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
7. Failing to keep one point of the law means one is guilty of breaking the whole law (James 2:10).
8. The Old Testament gives much material on what is called the guilt offering for sin (see Lev. 5).

I have a friend who recently completely rejected Christianity. He challenges the truthfulness of the Bible, the necessity of Christ’s atoning work, the reality of the God of the Bible. I know of several quite serious sins that he has committed, hurting himself and others and grieving God in the process. At some point I want to ask him, “What do you do with your guilt?”

The believer in the Lord Jesus has somewhere to go with his or her guilt. And that somewhere is a SOMEONE! Because our sins are forgiven by Christ, we can confess our shortcomings and ask for His restoration.

ACTION STEPS

1. Read over the verses mentioned above in the list this week. How would you define biblical guilt? How is biblical guilt a good thing?

2. Consider confessing to your unsaved friend something you have done or said for which you have found forgiveness before the Lord. Explain why you are confident the Lord has forgiven you.

3. Read the following article “What Does the Bible Say about Guilt?” found at Got Questions and email a friend some time this week about what you’ve learned.8

4. PRAYER: Pray for your friend to come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Pray that he would experience biblical guilt and ask your help in confessing his sin and trusting Christ.

 

My New Book “Bless-ed” Is Now Out! Almost. Blessing #5!

Friends:

My new book, Bless-ed! Fifty-Two Weekly Blessings You Have as a Believer and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs will soon be available on Amazon here. I have advanced copies if you are interested. I will send you a copy for $10 (which includes shipping). Here’s Blessing #5 in Bless-ed:

Bless-ed! 52 Weekly Blessings You Have As A Believer — and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs

Blessing #5: The Blessing of a Lifelong Mission

“This is the true joy of life: the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself to be a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” (George Bernard Shaw)

I’ve recently been challenged (by my time with my unsaved friend Mike) to think about what I have as a believer and what those who are lost don’t have. This may seem like a strange exercise, but it has a way of focusing my prayers and my priorities to genuinely care about my lost friends.

In sharing the biblical truth with Mike that he is “lost” and “unsaved” without Jesus, he responded with his conviction that he was just fine with God. But that’s not what God’s Word says. Another blessing that we who know Christ have is this –

5. WE HAVE A LIFELONG, SATISFYING MISSION IN LIFE!

What is my friend Mike’s “mission” in life? I suppose – if I were to ask him – he would probably say, “I want to be a good person, help others, be kind and compassionate, and die with my family by my side.” Those are good values and ambitious goals – but is that what life is about?

THE BLESSING: What about knowing the living God? What about helping to rescue people from God’s eternal wrath? What about sharing in any way possible the message of forgiveness and reconciliation that Jesus provides to those who believe? What about a life mission that will require all one’s energy and resources and priorities and insight and purpose? That’s what we believers have. And though at times it might seem like a burden, it is a blessing.

THE BIBLE Jesus prayed in John 17 for all who would follow Him. “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (v. 3). He commissioned His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 with the words:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”

Life’s purpose is to know the Lord and life’s mission (for those who believe) is to disciplize (my word) people everywhere to follow Jesus. This is the believer’s lifelong, satisfying mission. There is none greater than this.

ACTION STEPS

Someone has said of the Christian, “You are either a missionary or a mission field.” Believer, are you fully engaged in this Christ-given mission to reach the world? Some action steps you can take:

1. Read through the book of Acts this week taking special note of the passion and commitment of the early Christians to fulfill the Great Commission the Lord gave to them. Take a few notes and perhaps share what you’ve learned with a friend.

2. Interview a real-life missionary (either active or retired) some time this week. Ask them questions like, “If you had to live your life over again, what would you do differently?” “What lessons have you learned about your lifelong mission that can help other believers?”

3. Read John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and discuss it with a friend. Are there any points in that book with which you might disagree? Check out desiringgod.org for Piper’s many resources.

4. PRAYER: To be quite honest and blunt, in the words of Pastor John Piper, my friend Mike has wasted his life! But it’s not too late. And I pray he will come to Christ and use the remainder of his days to have a mission far greater than any he has ever dreamed of.

Are you concerned that your friend does not have God’s eternal mission in life? Pray that the Holy Spirit will speak to his heart – and remind him that he only has one life. And it can count for God!

 

My New Book “Bless-ed” Is Now Out! Almost. Blessing #4!

Friends:

My new book, Bless-ed! Fifty-Two Weekly Blessings You Have as a Believer and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs will soon be available on Amazon here. I have advanced copies if you are interested. I will send you a copy for $10 (which includes shipping). Here’s Blessing #4 in Bless-ed:

Bless-ed! 52 Weekly Blessings You Have As A Believer — and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs

Blessing #4: The Blessing of a Proper View of Suffering

“The believer in God must explain one thing, the existence of suffering; the nonbeliever, however, must explain the existence of everything else.” (Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin, The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism)

I thank the Lord for my friend Mike. He does not know the Lord – yet – as his Savior, but God is using him to remind me of the many blessings which I have “in Christ.” This study is multi-faceted and is helping me enormously in taking stock of what I have as a follower of Jesus. And I purpose to not simply coast through my Christian life, oblivious to the many gifts which being in God’s family has given me.

The next “blessing” we want to consider might seem odd, but it is a really critical one. This is a broken world; we are broken as people; terrible tragedies and catastrophes happen on this planet (and to us) under the watchful eye of a sovereign God. How are we to understand pain and tragedy? Thankfully, as believers in Christ –

4. WE POSSESS A PROPER VIEW OF SUFFERING!

THE BLESSING The Bible does not sugar-coat this world’s fallenness with all its effects of “natural disasters” (earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc.) and man-made evil (crime, betrayal, anger, revenge, injustice, prejudice, greed, etc.). But how are we to understand this world’s suffering in light of the Bible’s picture of a God of love?

Scholars refer to this effort at understanding evil as a theodicy (a defense of God’s justice in the face of evil’s reality). Some religious systems deny the reality of evil (the cult Christian Science is an example), compromise God’s omnipotence or omniscience (Rabbi Harold Kushner’s When Bad Things Happen to Good People is an example of the former; Greg Boyd’s open theism an example of the latter), or resign themselves to a kind of deterministic fatalism about evil (Islam is an example of this approach).

THE BIBLE The Bible provides the very best theodicy, for it affirms the real existence of evil and suffering while setting forth the goodness and justice of the biblical God. And God’s Word does not hesitate to show us godly people who had wrong views about suffering. One thinks of Job and his friends who were sure either Job had sinned greatly (and deserved what he was getting) or God was unfairly making Job His target (and needed to be sued in court for His [God’s] mistake). Even Jesus’ disciples cut to the chase theologically and thought the man-born-blind’s condition was because of sin (either his or his parents). Jesus corrects them by saying that “this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in his life” (John 9:3).

As God-manifest-in-the-flesh, Jesus allows death to take his friend Lazarus even though He had the power to keep him from dying (John 11). I’ve worked on this passage and entitled it “Friends Don’t Let Friends . . . Die!” But Jesus did.

One classic text on the issue of evil and suffering is Luke 13:1-5 where we read:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

This brief theodicy by the Lord Jesus covers two areas of suffering and evil in our world. Notice the victims of a vicious crime in verses 1-3. Notice also the victims of a violent accident in verses 4-5. Neither the sin of the Galileans nor the guilt of those killed by the falling tower was the cause of their catastrophe. One man’s depravity (Pilate’s) and one tower’s gravity illustrate a basic fact: life is dangerous! Make sure you are right with God!

ACTION STEPS

1. A bit of homework: There is much more in God’s Word that prepares us for suffering. See such texts as: 2 Corinthians 1:5-7; Philippians 1:29; 3:10; Colossians 1:24; I Thessalonians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:8; 2:3; Hebrews 2:18; 10:34; James 5:10; all of 1 Peter; Revelation 1:9; 2:10. Take some notes on these passages this week.

2. Interview a believing friend this week who is going through severe suffering (cancer, the loss of a loved one, marital unfaithfulness). Ask them carefully what God is teaching them in their trial. Then offer to pray with them.

3. Read the excellent book by Chris Tiegreen entitled Why a Suffering World Makes Sense. Perhaps offer a small group study of the book in your church.

4. PRAYER: Pray for yourself to live a life of faith even in the midst of trials and pain. And ask the Holy Spirit to use whatever challenge comes in your friend’s life that he might see his need of getting right with the Lord.

 

My New Book “Bless-ed” Is Now Out! Almost. Blessing #3!

Friends:

My new book, Bless-ed! Fifty-Two Weekly Blessings You Have as a Believer and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs will soon be available on Amazon here. I have advanced copies if you are interested. I will send you a copy for $10 (which includes shipping). Here’s Blessing #3 in Bless-ed:

Bless-ed! 52 Weekly Blessings You Have As A Believer — and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs

Blessing #3: The Blessing of a Burdened Heart

“If you really want to receive joy and happiness, then serve others with all your heart. Lift their burden, and your own burden will be lighter.” (Ezra Taft Benson)

The believer in Christ has so many blessings. And my unsaved friend Mike is helping me to “count my blessings.” I’ve been thinking about what I enjoy as a follower of Jesus. Sadly, my lost friends, although they enjoy much by way of God’s providential care (common grace), these are some blessings they don’t yet have.

There’s a rather strange one that believers have and it is –

3. WE HAVE THE BLESSING OF A BURDENED HEART!

THE BLESSING I am not suggesting that my unsaved friends don’t weep at the death of a loved one, or agonize over poor life-choices that their children make, or that they aren’t concerned with the many faces of evil in our world. But I think those “burdens” are the result of being made in the image of God, not necessarily of being a new creation in Christ. For someone considering Christianity I am tempted to say to them, “Buckle up! Get ready to get your heart burdened!”

THE BIBLE The classic passage on becoming a burden-bearer, I think, is Matthew 11:28-30 where the Lord Jesus says,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

A burdened heart is actually a healthy heart, if the burden is of Christ. Prior to receiving Christ as our Savior, there is a weariness and a burdenness (new word!) that can only be remedied by the rest that He gives. If “I will give you rest” refers to salvation, then it is critical to see that the believer after conversion has work to do (a yoke to wear) and learning to pursue.

A burdened heart looks out at the world and weeps. G.K. Chesterton put it this way: “Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel.” We were created to be burdened.

A burdened heart looks at friends and family without Christ . . . and prays! It looks at itself and asks not that the burden be taken away but that it be increased, trusting God to work in His way. We read in Galatians 6:1-5 the following:

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.

Please notice that this section is directed at “you who live by the Spirit.” It would be easy for someone to say, “I’m not really living by the Spirit, so I don’t have to seek to restore a brother or sister who is caught in sin!” No! We are supposed to be living by the Spirit so that we can help a fallen comrade!

Notice we are to “carry each other’s burdens” and by so doing we will “fulfill the law of Christ” (v. 2). But there is individual responsibility as well: “each one should carry their own load” (v. 5).

ACTION STEPS

1. Would you say your heart is burdened for someone else? How would you fill in the following blank? “I believe Jesus has given me a burden to carry and it is ____________.”

2. Let one or two fellow believers know this week that you want to pray for their burdens. Share with them a burden you are carrying for yourself.

3. If you are a parent or a grandparent, you will find great profit in reading Stormie Omartian’s book Praying for Your Adult Children.

4. Pray for your lost friend that he or she will become burdened for their salvation. And pray for yourself to become more burdened for his or her coming to Christ.

 

My New Book “Bless-ed” Is Now Out! Almost. Blessing #2!

Friends:

My new book, Bless-ed! Fifty-Two Weekly Blessings You Have as a Believer and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs will soon be available on Amazon here. I have advanced copies if you are interested. I will send you a copy for $10 (which includes shipping). Here’s Blessing #2 in Bless-ed:

Bless-ed! 52 Weekly Blessings You Have As A Believer — and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs

Blessing #2: The Blessing of the Assurance of Forgiveness

“In the shadow of my hurt, forgiveness feels like a decision to reward my enemy. But in the shadow of the cross, forgiveness is merely a gift from one undeserving soul to another. Forgiveness is the gift that insures my freedom from a prison of bitterness and resentment. When I accept forgiveness from God, I’m free from the penalty of my sin. When I extend forgiveness to my adversary, there’s a sense in which I am set free from his sin as well.” (Andy Stanley)

I’ve been thinking recently about what believers in Jesus have and what my unsaved friends don’t have in not knowing the Lord Jesus as their Savior. My friend Mike chooses to think of himself as not lost, as not being outside the family of God.

Please don’t misunderstand me. Mike is a great guy. He is giving, kind, compassionate, but utterly deceived about his status before a holy God. And therefore, I’m so thankful for God’s Word telling me the truth about my need of a Savior. A Savior who can forgive me.

I heard one man say, “I don’t mind forgiving and forgetting. I just don’t want the one I’m forgiving to forget that he has been forgiven.” The blessing we want to focus on today is that of having our sins taken care of by Jesus on the cross. For, when I think of what we have in Christ . . .

2. WE HAVE THE ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS!

THE BLESSING How audacious of Christians to claim their sins have been eternally forgiven by God, that they are now in His family, and that He will never turn away from them! But that’s what the Bible, God’s Word, promises to all who turn to Him in faith.

Unfortunately, few in our world seem concerned about their sin and God’s holiness. Someone has said that Jonathan Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” has been twisted today into “God in the Hands of Angry Sinners”! God’s Spirit brings conviction of sin which, upon belief in the gospel, leads to complete and righteous forgiveness from a holy God.

THE BIBLE Because the Bible is our final authority for what we believe, we can be assured of our permanent forgiveness by God. We read that it is in Christ “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14, emphasis added). We can be thankful with the psalmist who declares, “But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you” (Ps. 130:4, emphasis added). We learn that the Lord Jesus came for sinners “to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Christ]” (Acts 26:18, emphasis added). Even the prophets spoke about the coming Savior “that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43, emphasis added). But the hard fact is that forgiveness is found only in Christ. And if one doesn’t have Him, one doesn’t have it.

ACTION STEPS

1. A bit of homework: Interview five Christian friends this week on what it means to be forgiven by God. Take a few notes on your conversations. Discuss what you’ve learned with your spouse or a good friend.

2. Sometimes we need to use new words because we’ve become accustomed to the old words. Write out a paragraph of praise to the Lord for your forgiveness in Christ without using words like “forgiveness” or “saved” or “redeemed.” You might consider sharing that paragraph with an unsaved friend. Blame me for the assignment! But ask them if your paragraph makes sense to them.

3. Consider ordering and reading my short booklet on salvation entitled Saved: Rescued from God, by God, and for God found on amazon.com at: shorturl.at/bqN18. Just type in that url (shorturl.at/bqN18) into your search engine.

4. PRAYER: Pray specifically for your unsaved friend this week that he would be open to the Spirit’s work of convicting him of his need of Christ. Pray about the possibility of sharing your paragraph (of Action Step #2) with him.

 

My New Book “Bless-ed” Is Now Out! Almost. Blessing #1!

Friends:

My new book, Bless-ed! Fifty-Two Weekly Blessings You Have as a Believer and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs will soon be available on Amazon here. I have advanced copies if you are interested. I will send you a copy for $10 (which includes shipping). Here’s Blessing #1 in Bless-ed:

Bless-ed! 52 Weekly Blessings You Have As A Believer — and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs

Blessing #1: The Blessing of a Final Authority for One’s Beliefs

“I have made a covenant with God that he sends me neither visions, dreams, nor even angels. I am well satisfied with the gift of the Holy Scriptures which give me abundant instruction and all that I need to know both for this life and for that which is to come.” (Martin Luther)

Why do you believe what you believe? What is your authority for what you choose to incorporate into your view of the world? Some people trust their reason; some their emotions. Others rely on some religious authority to tell them what to believe. I heard about a man who was asked, “What do you believe?” “I believe what my church believes,” he replied. “Well,” asked the friend, “what does your church believe?” “The church believes what I believe!” “That’s interesting,” said the friend. “What do you and your church believe?” The man thought for a moment, then replied, “We believe the same thing, dummy!”

For the believer in Jesus, there’s a better authority for what we are to believe — and it’s the Word of God.

1. WE HAVE A FINAL AUTHORITY FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE!

THE BLESSING My friend Mike doesn’t “feel” like he’s lost or unsaved. For many people their feelings are their final authority for what they believe. As a follower of Jesus, my authority is God’s Word, the Bible. And the Bible is quite clear in declaring the human person’s lostness before a holy, Triune God.

THE BIBLE The Bible (composed of 66 books) claims to be the Word of God. This isn’t a unique claim to Christianity, but there are good reasons to trust the Bible rather than other pretend authorities (such as the Book of Mormon, or the Koran, or Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures). God’s Word promises to be a light to our path (Ps. 119:105), a treasure of truth to one’s mind (Ps. 19:7-11), nourishing food for one’s life (Job 23:12), and even a double-edged sword piercing one’s soul for good (Heb. 4:12). Martin Luther confessed: “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me.”

For many people their final authority for what they believe is their heart. When we lived in Canada, my good friend John (who professed to be a believer) asked if I would talk to his brother Nick who believed everything, it seemed, except Christianity. I asked Nick what his authority was for what he believed and he said, “My heart. If I read something that resonates with me, I add it to my belief system.” He then said to me, “Larry, what do you think about my practice?” I said with a smile, “Nick, I’m not sure you want to hear what I really think. And I want to stay friends with you.” He said, “No, really. I want to know what you think.” I then said, “Nick, Jeremiah 17:9 says that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked and that we should not trust our hearts as our final authority for what we believe.” I don’t believe Nick and I talked about spiritual things much after that, but I told him the truth.

This issue of the Bible’s final authority for one’s life cannot be overstated. If the Bible is the very Word of God — and there are abundant evidences to wholeheartedly affirm that conviction — then it must have daily power over my decisions, actions, motivations, feelings, priorities, etc.

ACTION STEPS

1. For you as a believer, thank the Lord for God’s Word, your final authority for what you are to believe. Write out a new prayer every day this week expressing your gratitude for the Scriptures.

2. A bit of homework: Read through Psalm 119 over this week and list at least 50 benefits of the Word of God in your life.

3. For extra reading I recommend buying either a One Year Bible or a Two Year Bible and committing yourself to reading through all of God’s Word in either one or two years.

4. PRAYER: Pray today for your lost friend that he or she might become interested in what the Bible says about life and salvation and the world. Ask God the Holy Spirit to bring a godly conviction to their soul. Consider praying about offering a one-on-one Bible study to your friend.

 

Five Truths You Need to Believe about . . . Faith!

Five Truths about . . . FAITH:
Everyone, to some extent, lives by faith. I read somewhere that a question was sent in to a newspaper answer-man: “How does an elevator work?” The answer-man responded, “An elevator is essentially a small room dangling over a very deep shaft, held up by thin cables that are maintained by building employees who have tremendous trouble just keeping all the toilets working.”

We blithely eat the sandwich prepared for us at Subway without asking about the artisan’s background or hygiene. We (usually not men) ask total strangers for directions when we’re lost. We trust our political leaders — sometimes. Everyone “walks by faith” in some sense.

Faith can refer to one’s belief and confidence in how one looks at life. Or faith can refer to the content of truth which God has revealed to us. It is this latter definition that we want to closely examine.

“The FAITH” is used in the Bible to refer to the truths that God has disclosed to us about Himself, His world, and our need of a Savior. And we are to defend that faith vigorously (Jude 3).

Five Issues about FAITH:

1. The SOURCE of our FAITH: Where do we get our beliefs? Some cite their own reason or their experience for what they believe. Others will say they believe what some church authority tells them to believe. But the CHRISTIAN FAITH is derived from God’s supernatural revelation to us in the 66 books of the Bible.

2. The STUDY of our FAITH: We are to study the truths — the doctrines — of the Christian faith as revealed in the 66 books of the Bible. If we want to study, for example, the glory of God and we begin at Genesis and work our way all the way through the book of Revelation, that is an approach called “biblical theology.” If we collect all the Scriptures about the glory of God and put them into logical categories, that is an approach called “systematic theology.” Both study methods are useful and focus upon the data of God’s Word.

3. The CHALLENGES to our FAITH: We must ask, “whatever happened to heresy?” The term “heresy” literally means “a choice.” Jehovah’s Witnesses are heretics because they choose to deny the deity of Christ (as well as other doctrines). We must be aware of false teaching in our time and culture in order to refute it and present God’s truth. [I’ve touched on the issue of reading “boiling books” here].

4. The IMPLICATIONS of our FAITH: The Christian “faith” (the content of truth that God has revealed to us) has been given to mature us, to make us more like Christ. Knowing the truths of God is not enough. They must transform us. Our priorities, worldview, daily choices, affections must be challenged and formed by the biblical beliefs we affirm.

5. The SHARING of our FAITH: We are not to keep our FAITH to ourselves. We are under the great commission mandate to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28).

 

TODAY’S HOMEWORK: Ask someone who is a friend what they understand by the word “faith.” When asked, explain to them the idea that one’s “faith” is one’s worldview, how one looks at reality. Feel free to write out a comment below!

 

Five Truths You Need to Believe about . . . An Introduction to the Series

Introduction to the Series:
These posts are in preparation for my writing a series of 30-page booklets which will be designed to teach and apply fundamental truths of the Christian faith. While they do not pretend to address all the issues in a particular area of Christian belief, they will cover some of the basics which every Jesus-follower should affirm and put into practice.

Theology — the study of God and the things of God — is, for most people, as attractive as an appointment for a root canal. But I have often said that “Theology is not boring. Theologians are boring!” The precious truths given to us by a loving and powerful God should excite us and empower us to live for Him. Spiral bound, these lay-flat booklets will provide space for study notes and exercises.

Unfortunately, many Christians look like they’ve been baptized in lemon juice. Some act as if, when they came to Jesus, He gave them a misery pill and told them to go out and medicate the world!

Professional Christians (pastors, missionaries, Bible college and seminary professors) often seem to reflect the idea that doctrine is boring or irrelevant. Listen to what Dorothy Sayers said about such ministers:

“It is not true at all that dogma [doctrine] is ‘hopelessly irrelevant’ to the life and thought of the average man. What is true is that ministers of the Christian religion often assert that it is, present it for consideration as though it were, and, in fact, by their faulty exposition of it make it so. The central dogma of the Incarnation is that by which relevance stands or falls.” (from Creed or Chaos).

We will show the biblical basis for each of the five truths we will discuss in each of these booklets. We will also take seriously the “So what?” factor. In other words, if I really believe X, what difference ought that to make in my life? Right here? Right now?

So, we will list and discuss the five truths about a particular area of Christian belief, investigate some of its practical implications for the believer, and recommend several resources for further study.

We will begin with . . . FIVE TRUTHS YOU NEED TO BELIEVE ABOUT . . . FAITH! in our next post.

Today’s Challenge: Ask yourself the question: Do you really believe the fundamental truths of the Christian faith? How can your beliefs be tested and lived out?

 

Uploaded Video for My Kirkland Students — Part 2 Christology

Friends: Due to the Coronavirus I am not allowed to meet face-to-face with my Kirkland cohort (many are lifers) for the next few weeks. I’m providing a couple of videos for them to watch. And you might like what I’ve done! The second video is about 15 minutes long. Let me know what you think! Dr. D.

 

Uploaded Video on Christology for Kirkland Students – Part 1

Friends:

Due to the Coronavirus I am not allowed to meet face-to-face with my Kirkland cohort (many are lifers) for the next few weeks. I’m providing a couple of videos for them to watch. And you might like what I’ve done! The first video is only 11 minutes long. Let me know what you think! Dr. D.