Fresh Encounters by Daniel Henderson is an articulate and passionate call for the church to come back to corporate prayer. Henderson answers common misconceptions about corporate prayer and shows how corporate prayer is both the expectation of the New Testament and the example of the early church. Yet his call is not to some boring long-winded prayer meeting for endless requests. Rather, he maps out his vision for a more God-centered worship-based time of prayer. And he shows church leaders how to move to a greater prayer emphasis in the church, complete with numerous corporate prayer plans and ideas. Highly recommended.
Tag: Discipleship
Health To Serve
And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
– Luke 4:38-39
Simon’s mother-in-law was sick, unable to serve. Then Jesus healed her, and as soon as she was well, she began to serve. She used her new health to serve Jesus.
Has God given you health in this period of your life? If so, what are you doing with it? Are you using it to serve Jesus?
Perhaps your health is limited. Are you using what health you have to serve Jesus?
Don’t waste your health. Use it to serve the Lord.
Prayer Convictions
What are the convictions of a praying leader, a praying believer, and a praying church? In summary:
- God is worthy, far beyond the attraction of anything this world offers.
- I am needy, in spite of my apparent self-sufficiency and earthly prosperity.
- Jesus Christ invites me to seek Him and will empower me by His grace to endure in my pursuit.
- Jesus longs for His church to be a house of prayer, and I will faithfully contribute to that vision.
- Jesus’ glory in and through the church to the world will be my determined passion.
- God is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently.
– Daniel Henderson
Who Needs Who?
“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
– Psalm 50:7-15
God did not need their sacrifices. Every animal already belonged to him; indeed the entire world is his. Nor did he eat and drink their sacrifices. And if he was hungry, he didn’t need their help. God didn’t need their sacrifices.
Nor does God need us. He doesn’t need our service. He doesn’t need our ministry. He doesn’t need us at all. He can accomplish his will without us. God doesn’t need us.
But we do need him. He tells us to call upon him in the day of trouble. In the midst of the trial, the struggle, the temptation, the pain, the sickness, the loss – we are to call upon him. We need his help. And he will help us.
He doesn’t need us. We need him. He doesn’t need us, but he does want something from us. Thanksgiving. He wants us to be thankful for his help. He wants us to glorify him, honor him, praise him for all that he has done for us. In other words, he wants our hearts. He wants grateful hearts.
And grateful hearts will sacrifice and serve, not because God needs those things, but because we want to do those things. And that is what God wants – not mere actions but our wanting to sacrifice and serve in gratitude to him and for his glory.
Passion Points
The last few weeks we have focussed on just one issue for Passion Points. As a result, a lot of good posts have piled up. Here they are – happy reading!
First, on the issue of pride. Gospel Centric gives us a self-diagnostic test with fifty fruits of pride to see if we are in fact proud. From Gospel Centric we also get five things to know about pride and 10 thoughts on overcoming pride. Meanwhile Thabiti Anyabwile gives us what I would consider the secret for overcoming pride. And John Piper gives us a good song about thinking much of God instead of ourselves.
Second, some good posts on the gospel and sanctification. Josh Moody gives us good definition of the gospel – which includes a new life now. Jared Compton discusses how the gospel is good news now – how changes our lives. Crossway gives us thoughts on how to fight for personal sanctification.
Third, three more good posts on various issues:
- Finishing life well – as it relates to leaving family behind.
- Who are you seeking to please?
- Sneaky self-righteousness or Christ’s righteousness?
Hope you have a great weekend!
Praying in Community
In our culture of rugged individualism we have come to the conclusion that it is better to pray alone than with others. Unfortunately, most of us never learn to do either one very well. Like most disciplines of the Christian faith, we learn best to pray alone when we have been taught in community….We need to create a new sense of community in prayer to help people rise above their individualistic bent.
– Daniel Henderson
Passion Quotes
Here are a few more quotes – this time on the gospel and idolatry.
The Gospel
Tim Keller: You’re more sinful than you ever dared believe; you’re more loved than you ever dared hope.
Tullian Tchividjian: When you trust in Jesus, your identity and worth is no longer based on what you can accomplish but on what Jesus accomplished for you.
Tullian Tchividjian: The gospel is meant to bring us to the end of ourselves so that we finally place our meaning, purpose, and sense of well-being in Jesus.
Idolatry
D.A. Carson: The heart of all idolatry in the world is the de-Godding of God.
Louie Giglio: Worship should really matter to you – whatever you worship, you become.
Passion Points – Family
In keeping with the theme of the last few posts, here are some good links on marriage and the family.
First, Jared Wilson gives some direction for a grace-driven marriage. Justin Taylor gives some thoughts from John Piper on the husband’s call to lead in reconciliation after the inevitable quarrels of marriage.
You might also check out some helpful booklets on marriage from RBC Ministries that you can view on-line:
Building Blocks To A Strong Marriage
What Is The Promise of Marriage?
Abigail & Leah: Living In A Difficult Marriage
When The Flame Flickers: Rekindling Intimacy In Your Marriage
Finally, here are some helpful links related to some family issues recently in the news:
Albert Mohler gives some helpful commentary on President Obama’s recent announcement that the Justice Department will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act. You might also consider John Piper’s reaction.
Meanwhile, Joel Northrup, a high school student in Iowa, refused to wrestle against a girl in the state championship wrestling tournament. Despite there being good moral reasons for Northrup to take this stand, much of the media has lambasted him. Albert Mohler and John Piper again give helpful commentary on this clash of worldviews related to the family.
Consummation: Marriage Transcended
At Creation, God defined marriage. At the Fall, marriage was complicated. In Redemption, marriage can be transformed by grace. At the Consummation, marriage will be transcended.
There will be no marriage in heaven, in the resurrection, in the New Earth. Jesus makes this clear in Luke 20:34-36:
And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
– Luke 20:34-36
At least two things follow from this. First, marriage is not the ultimate reality. God is. While I must be the best spouse I can be, my first allegiance is to God. I dare not let marriage become an idol that I put before God.
Second, this life is all I have to be the best spouse I can be. One day I will be conformed into the image of Christ, but then it will be too late for me to be a better spouse because then there will be no more marriage. This life is all I have. And this life is short. There are no guarantees of tomorrow. This day is all I have to be the best spouse I can be. Perhaps God will give us tomorrow. In that case, it will be another opportunity to be the best spouse I can be. It is too easy to put this off, to assume that we have lots of time. But we may not. Let’s use each day as a new opportunity to be the best spouse we can be.
What will you do today to be build your marriage, to show your love, to be a better spouse?
Fall/Redemption: Marriage Complicated and Transformed
In creation, God defined marriage. And we would all live happlily ever after, except for the Fall.
Fall: Marriage Complicated
Because of our sin, the world is now cursed. That mutual help between spouses has been complicated by much harder work. Spouses get sick, grow old, and die. Couples can see their children die. Other couples aren’t able to have children. The Fall complicates marriage, and that doesn’t even take into account our sin.
There is a great book title by Dave Harvey called “When Sinners Say I Do.” You married a sinner. So did your spouse. And our sin complicates marriage in untold ways. Selfishness can wreak havoc on companionship. Self-centeredness can destroy mutual help. A spouse can refuse to really leave parents. Couples divorce. A spouse may have an affair. Even children can be turned into idols. Hurtful words and actions. Explosions of anger. Strife. Abuse. A lack of love. Sin can hurt marriages in countless ways and bring untold heartache, pain, struggle, turmoil, and misery. Your spouse is a sinner. So are you. And if God left marriage there, we would be in a heap of trouble. But God didn’t leave marriage there, which brings us to redemption.
Redemption: Marriage Transformed By Grace
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. – Ephesians 1:7
We deserved judgment for our sins. But Jesus died so that we could be forgiven of every sin. Instead of judgment, we received grace. And as we receive his grace, our marriages can be transformed as we extend that grace to our spouse.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
– Ephesians 4:31-32
These words were written in the context of the church family, but they apply incredibly well to marriage as well. Instead of having marriages full of anger and malice, God calls us to forgive as he forgave us. To extend the grace we received to our spouse. And as we recognize our sin and receive God’s grace, we can then also acknowledge our sin to our spouse and seek their forgiveness. As spouses extend and receive grace from each other, they can reconcile with each other instead of letting divisions linger. They can follow the instructions given just a few verses earlier: “do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26).
Marriage is transformed by grace as spouses extend and receive grace from each other. But grace transforms marriage in another way:
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.
– Titus 2:11-12
God’s grace not only forgives sin, but it trains us not to continue in it. God’s grace can help us be the people God created us to be. His grace can help us overcome the sin that wrecks marriages. His grace can help us be better wives and husbands as we cooperate with God’s working in our lives.
So marriage is complicated by the Fall. But Jesus came not only to save us from our sins, but also to transform our marriages by his grace. As we receive grace from God, we can extend that grace to our spouse and receive grace from our spouse. As we cooperate with God’s grace, we can begin to overcome sin and become better husbands and wives. May we grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!
