Humility

"Humility is not thinking less of myself. It's thinking of myself less."

-Tim Keller

The Paradox of Choice

I was listening to a Tedtalk recently called the "paradox of choice". The paradox of choice goes like this.....the more options we have, the less content we actually are.

The theory can be tested through the lens of buying a pair of jeans. Back in the day, when there was only one kind of blue jean to buy in the store, I got them wore them and for the most part was content with them, because the only other alternative was, well nothing, or an uncomfortable pair of corduroys. So, compared to not having jeans at all, having a pair was great.

Fast forward 30 years.

Now I can choose literally 100s of different brands, colors, shapes and sizes of jeans all within my reach....and, while the jeans I wear today actually look and fit better than the pair I used to have when back in the day, I'm paradoxically, less content. "Why", you ask? Good question.

I'm less happy because, in a world of choice, I'm perpetually wondering what I missed out on. I'm continually ruminating over whether there might be another pair that might fit a tad bit better. And, the thought of there being something better just out of grasp haunts me, and breeds a spirit of dissatisfaction with that which I do have.

That's the paradox of choice. Logically, we assume, more choice should bring more freedom. But, in reality more options bring more consternation, frustration, dissatisfaction and self-obsession.

I see this as one of the great problems of consumeristic society. Options breed dissatisfaction. And, so it goes within the church. The answer to church dissatisfaction is not creating more options. More options don't make us happier. . .look at our culture for goodness sake!

What is necessary within the Church is that she develop a theology of less. Speaking of paradoxes, one of Jesus' great paradoxes in the gospels is that less is more. And, so we must attempt to think less like our culture and more like Jesus.

I remember those provocative words from Christ as he gently chides Martha. "Martha, Martha, you run after many things, but only one thing is necessary". Maybe, this economic crisis we are in will force us away from our smorgasbord diets, and we'll find that only one thing is necessary.

And, in finding that one necessary thing, we'll find personal contentment in those things that we do have.

Where was God on 9/11?

As the ten year anniversary of 9/11 draws near, my thoughts go to my Uncle Bernie and Aunt Barbara and the rest of the Heeran clan. Growing up our family would travel up from Delaware to visit our New York relatives, and I have great memories of my cousin Charlie, who always lit up a room with his mischievous smile and Irish eyes.

Charlie's life was stolen from him on September 11.

As humans, it's hard to reconcile where God fits into our losses and pain. We don't see what God sees or know what God knows, and when evil strikes us personally, we are left with lots of unanswered questions. One of the biggies is "where were you God"?

Below is a Frontline Documentary called "Faith and Doubt: God and 9/11." Uncle Bernie and my cousin Sean are both featured, and discuss how the loss of Charlie has impacted their faith.

What I think is profound about Uncle Bernie's statements in the video is that while he doesn't claim to have all the answers, he doesn't blame God or hold God in contempt like others do in this documentary. In his own way, he basically says, God was is in the trenches that day fighting evil right alongside everyone else at ground zero.

As I reflect on Uncle Bernie's statement I think it's a pretty Biblical response.

I heard a story once that goes like this. . .A man loses his son tragically and is in terrible grief. In time, his pain turns into anger. And, in a moment of desperation he cries out to God from the bottom of his tormented soul. . . "God, where were you when my son was dying?? Then, after a long silence, a voice replies back. "The same place I was when my Son was dying."


Uncle Bernie is right. God is fighting evil right along side of us. He's not immune to suffering, death and misery. His own son, according to the Scriptures, was a casualty of the war against evil. Ground zero for Jesus Christ was Calvary.

He too suffered in the hands of terrorists. We have a God who is able to sympathize with our pain, because he has entered it on our behalf, and has been through hell too. God knows what it is like to lose a Son. And, I know that he stands alongside every grieving mother and father who lost a son 10 years ago.

But, Christ did not just passively die in the hands of evil. Through his resurrection, sacrificial love conquered evil once and for all. 9/11 reminds us that evil is real and on some days seems to win the battle. But, the resurrection shouts to us that the war has already been won. The grave is not the end. Evil cannot withstand the relentless, courageous, self-sacrificial love of our God. Evil is shattered and rendered impotent by the cross of Christ.

The God who is in the trenches fighting evil and suffering in the hands of evil, is the same God who rose victoriously and one day is returning to this world to once and for all snuff out any resemblance of evil.

Charlie, we love you and know that today you are with Christ.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Who is this King of Glory?

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.

Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.

They will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God their Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.

The closing of this Psalm pictures a royal procession. It pictures the King of the Universe marching into that which is his own. The Holy One triumphantly entering, through the Gates of His walled city, Jerusalem. It's a breathtaking picture. The King of Glory entering in dignity, armed in strength and victorious over His enemy.

Of course, the gospels too speak of a royal procession into the city of the King. Except the New Testament adds to the psalmist's ancient prophecy an unexpected twist.

The gospels record that in Jesus Christ, the King did indeed enter through the gates of Jerusalem. And, upon His arrival, he was rejected by his loyal subjects and immediately led outside the ancient walls of the city He had built.

We are told that this King of Glory was crowned not with gold, but with thorns that tore into his flesh. This King was not only robbed of his glory, but of every strip of clothing as well. Naked, the king was elevated above the crowd, ironically heads were lifted up. But, not to honor him, but dishonor, smirk and jeer at him.

The Psalmist cries "who can ascend to the holy hill of God? He who has clean hands and a pure heart". Well, there were no clean hands or pure hearts that day. Only two pierced hands and one broken heart. Broken by love for a people who esteemed him not.

The King of Glory was led outside the city gates, precisely so we could be brought in. He climbed the Hill of scorn and rejection, so that we could could ascend to the hill called Holiness.

You see the New Testament twist to the psalmist story is precisely this: No one can ascend the holy hill. There is none righteous, no not one. And, in a move of divine paradox, in Jesus, the King of Glory Himself ascends a hill. But, not the hill called Zion, but the one called Calvary.

Who ascended to the hill of the LORD? None but Jesus Christ. But, graciously his courageous ascent, guarantees, by faith, ours as well.

What an amazing love.

Who is this King of Glory?

The LORD Jesus Christ--

He is the King of Glory!

Technology and Wisdom

Neil Postman over the years has been very helpful to me in thinking through how technology impacts culture. Postman's article on "Five Things we need to Know on Technological Change" is worth the read. Pastor Jeremy and I had a great conversation last night about how technology is not bad. . .but, technology without wisdom can be like an "ax in the hand of a psychopath" (to quote Einstein). I encourage you to read Postman's whole article (if this topic interests you. Below are the five basic ideas. The article fleshes each of these out in insightful and thoughtful ways.

First Idea

All technological change is a trade-off. Technology giveth and technology taketh away. This means that for every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a corresponding disadvantage. The disadvantage may exceed in importance the advantage, or the advantage may well be worth the cost.

Second Idea

The advantages and disadvantages of new technologies are never distributed evenly among the population. This means that every new technology benefits some and harms others.

Third Idea

Embedded in every technology there is a powerful idea, sometimes two or three powerful ideas. These ideas are often hidden from our view because they are of a somewhat abstract nature. But this should not be taken to mean that they do not have practical consequences.

Fourth Idea

Technological change is not additive; it is ecological. A new medium does not add something; it changes everything.

Fifth Idea

I come now to the fifth and final idea, which is that media tend to become mythic. The word "myth" to refer to a common tendency to think of our technological creations as if they were God-given, as if they were a part of the natural order of things".

Redefining Progress

"When going back makes sense, you are going ahead."

— Wendell Berry

Jeremiah 6:16 echos this maxim. God calling Israel to move forward by looking backward. The LORD exhorts Israel to "ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is. . . and walk in it." Sometimes moving forward in life means looking backwards at the conventional, collective wisdom of our ancestors. More often than not ancient wisdom is often more potent in our lives than faddish innovation.

What the Spirit Does

The Holy Spirit is sort of the enigma within the Trinity. We can wrap our minds around the Father. And, Jesus we "get". His divinity is cloaked in flesh and he looks, feels and relates like we do. We can at least begin to wrap our minds around that. But the Holy Spirit. . .or growing up Catholic, we would use the term "Holy Ghost". Now that's downright spooky, like something out of the Exorcist. After all, who or what is the Holy Spirit?

Well, despite the name it's reassuring to know that the Holy Spirit is referred to as a person in the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit is part of the God-head and is every bit as personal as the Father or Son. He is no more or no less "ghost" than the other members of the Trinity. Reassuring.

But, what does the Holy Spirit do?

This past week I was doing a Bible study with three theologians that I'm close to named Jackson, Caleb and Kate. And, we examined the role of the Holy Spirit in three important places in the Scripture: in the creation of the world, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ and in the new creation or the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. Some interesting themes emerged.

Holy Spirit in Creation.

Genesis chapter one sets the stage. Interestingly, we see that "in the beginning God creates the heavens and the earth." But Genesis goes further and says that these heavens and earth were "formless, empty and dark". Ever think about that? God makes the cosmos, but it initially has no shape, no structure, no form, no light. Sort of like raw cosmic ball of goo. I don't know what this world God created looked like, but many scholars say that it was like a blank, black canvas that was ready for the artist. I like this assessment.

Then the next line casually slips in that "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters". Enter God's Holy Spirit. God's Spirit is present and interceding or coming between God's purpose and design and the creation itself. Of course, the rest of Genesis 1 speak of form, order and texture arising out of formlessness, fullness out of emptiness and light blazing through darkness. We can interpret from this text that the Spirit of God is active in God's creation in bringing His light and life, texture and form, color and creativity to what is otherwise dark, formless and void.

Holy Spirit in the Incarnation

Turning to the first pages of the New Testament we read about the fulfillment a prophecy. One is to come into the world who is the Messiah. This King will be no ordinary King, but will be the "son of the Most High". An angel appears to Mary and tells her that she will bear this child. I'm not sure if sex education existed in the first century, but Mary is no dummy. She informs the angel that it's going to be a tall order to get pregnant since she's a virgin and not yet married. In essence, Mary is saying my womb is formless, empty and dark. There's no capacity for life in there. And, the angel responds with the most amazing statement. He says "the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. . .and you will be with child."

Once again the Holy Spirit moves into a formless, empty and dark aspect of the creation (Mary's womb) and fulfills the divine plan of God with His super-natural creative power. I can't help but notice the similar feel of the spirit hovering over the dark waters in the creation and God's Spirit coming upon Mary and overshadowing Mary's dark womb. Both instances beget new life. They breed creative vitality and fulfillment where there was once nothing. Holy Brilliance and power at work!

Holy Spirit in New Creation

After Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven, Jesus promised that he would not leave his followers alone with the task of changing this world, but would send his promised Holy Spirit to be with them. Yet, this didn't happen immediately. There were several days between Jesus leaving and the coming of the Holy Spirit. During this time, the disciples understood the capacity of their mission, but lacked the capability to carry out that mission. We see them huddled together in Jerusalem praying and trying to make decisions. . .to muster up the wisdom what to do next. They were doing the right things, but didn't have the creative, life-giving power of God within them. There is no real form/substance, fullness or power in the church. . .yet. Then Acts 2 comes.

At Pentecost God's Spirit once again descends upon his creation filling those around, and doing what He does best. . .interceding with a super-natural, creative power that enables God's creation to come alive accomplishing the Father's purpose for the world. He brings form, fullness and light to God's people at Pentecost. First, form. After Pentecost, the church emerges with structure and a sense of order and super-natural unity. Second, fullness. God's people are filled with the mission of Jesus in a new way. They take on His passion and His boldness in a way that they could not without the Spirit's presence. Third, light. The post-Pentecost Church is not under the cloak of darkness, secretly hiding in upper rooms trying to survive on the victories of yesterday. No, the church with the Holy Spirit comes out of the shadows and into the light. Their unashamed boldness to reach the nations and be the light of the world becomes the theme of the post-Pentecost church and fills the remaining pages in the book of Acts.

So, what does the work of the Holy Spirit have to do with our lives today? Well, we see in the creation, the incarnation and in new creation that the Spirit likes to do his creative work in the formless, empty and void-ness of life. In essence, he likes to work within the barren and desolate places of life. Be it within cosmic confusion, a barren womb or a bunch frightened disciples, he delights to work within what's undone and dark to bring divine form, substance, fullness and light to God's world. Fascinating!

Soren Kierkegaard has this great quote that goes like this. "God creates everything out of nothing. And, everything which God is to use, he first reduces to nothing." Perhaps that's the heartbeat of the Holy Spirit. To work alongside the Father to make nothing into something great. If this is true, perhaps our take home point to a greater life in the Spirit is not trying to attain anything or "get" more of God's Spirit. Perhaps what God wants and His Spirit delights in is our willingness to admit our own formlessness, emptiness and darkness so that His Spirit can begin to work in us. While such an admission is an irritation to our pride, if my theology is right, it is an invitation to the Spirit to work His magic in our lives to the glory of God.

The Stories We Believe

"To heal the person, we must first heal the story they imagine themselves to be in".

-James Hillman

Mission and Worship

"Mission exists because worship does not."

-John Piper

I appreciated this apt quote. It takes a little thinking to even understand it.

Sometimes we forget that the entire purpose of mission and ministry is to help people see, experience, love, adore, honor and glorify God. If all creation honored their Creator and gave Him themselves, there would be no need for mission.

Consider this. There will come a time when mission work is complete. It will be no more. But, there will never be a time when worship is complete. Mission will end, worship will last forever.

Therefore, worship must be the end to which we aspire and perspire in our life. Mission is merely the means, the outworking of our worship to God. Any mission work whose intent is not ultimately the worship and glorification of God, is mission gone sadly awry.

Sometimes we think of mission as the most thing in our lives that matters to God. It is not. Mission will come to an end one day, but worship will not. Of course, to truly worship God. . .to see what God sees. . .to delight in what God delights . . .to go where God goes. . . compels and thrusts us into mission.

But, let us not mistake the means from the end.

The Gospel and its implications

What is the gospel?

Social justice, community reform, personal morality should never be mistaken as the gospel itself. They are actually the IMPLICATIONS of the gospel fleshed out into our life and world. Social Justice, for instance, is a tentacle, an extension, an outworking of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A tentacle is an attachment...something that grows out of the core substance of something. Like we find on a jellyfish. . .the tentacles grow out of the core and are connected to the core, but only represent a part or an extension of the whole.

I think the same is true of the gospel. When we trace our behaviors, values, choices, thoughts back to their source, everything should be sourced in the essence of the gospel: that God is rebuilding his Kingdom precisely through His own incarnation, suffering death and resurrection on behalf of mankind.

So, feeding the poor, helping a handicapped person, saying "no" to sexual temptation, attending church, handling personal rejection, or spending money...all of these things become natural implications in our lives of coming into a right relationship with the living God through Jesus. All of these things are the implications, the tentacles, of the all-encompassing gospel of Jesus, but they are NOT in themselves the gospel. Historically, liberal Christianity has mistaken the gospel for social justice. Conservative Christianity has mistaken the gospel for personal morality. Both sides have drank different flavors of the same poison. Neither social justice, nor personal morality are the gospel. Both, however are both implications of the gospel at work, and should be tentacles in a gospel centered life. But, they are not the gospel themselves.

Our problem today, whether on the left or the right, is the need to embrace the gospel and then think through the profound implications of the the gospel. As, Keller's quote below goes on to say...a central problem in our lives stems from not thinking, perceiving, contemplating how the gospel reorients all of life. He writes:

"The main problem, then, in the Christian life is that we have not thought out the deep implications of the gospel, we have not “used” the gospel in and on all parts of our life. Richard Lovelace says that most people’s problems are just a failure to be oriented to the gospel–a failure to grasp and believe it through and through. Luther says, “The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine. . . . Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.” The gospel is not easily comprehended. Paul says that the gospel only does its renewing work in us as we understand it in all its truth. All of us, to some degree live around the truth of the gospel but do not “get” it. So the key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel. A stage of renewal is always the discovery of a new implication or application of the gospel–seeing more of its truth. This is true for either an individual or a church".

I was asked today in a ministry preparation class (which I was on the panel), what is your biggest discouragement/challenges in your area of ministry. I replied, "Consumerism in the culture and in the church". Western societies produce fully discipled consumers. Yes, consumerism actually disciples us. A person discipled on consumerism believes that they hold a plethora of seductive chalices in their own hands . . .and the more consumed, the better our lives. In stark contrast, Jesus Christ says there is but one cup we must drink from, and he holds the cup. The concoction in the cup? Absolute allegiance to Himself and a willingness to follow His path to the cross. He offers this cup to James and John near the end of his life. Jesus tells the brothers that he must drink of this cup, and his disciples must follow suit. He asks the bold Son's of Thunder, "Can you drink the cup that I drink from?" A daunting question. The two powerful men don't realize what's in the cup Jesus offers. You see, Jesus assumes that his disciples will drink from the same cup that he drinks. Today's dilemma is that the idol of consumerism also holds out many available cups, filled to the brim with promises that satiate our personal needs and desires. So, we are in a battle. A battle of deciding who is discipling us. . .A battle of what cup we will consume. Whose cup are you drinking from? Jesus' cup or the cultures cup? Both want your allegiance, yet you cannot proclaim loyalty to both. Both are seeking to make you their apprentice . . .to drink their concoction.

Are you willing to drink His cup?

Take a minute to watch this video by Allen Hirsch. It's only about 2 1/2 minutes and is about disciple-making and consumerism. Challenging and good.

Salvation: Deliverance from what??

Over the years, many have come to Christ thinking of deliverance or salvation as primarily escape from hell. Or perhaps more prominent today, salvation is deliverance from my difficult circumstances I'm currently trudging through--sort of God's way of helping me to get my life back in order. But, Christ and the New Testament writers seem to speak of the need of salvation from something far closer to home than a location in a future life or a challenging time in life. Deliverance that is granted in salvation is deliverance from the self that's infected with sin. Ephesians 2 speaks to this, as does Colossians 1. Biblically speaking, salvation is primarily about deliverance from SIN...from the old self, the dominion of evil lurking within. It is the sin within that has created the false-self and has left me estranged from my Creator. The gospel offers deliverance of the false-self enmeshed in sin. But, such a deliverance only comes to those who surrender that old self to God. And, this releasing is a death blow to be sure. Baptism is a visible sign of that blow. My emergence into the water is the burying of that false self that had to die. "If anyone wants to save his life", says Jesus "he must lose it". Many people, I find, have a difficult time seeing that sin is actually the big WHAT that we need deliverance from. Our security, satisfaction and significance holds so tightly to that false-self (the sin within) that so often we can't see that it is precisely what we need deliverance from. Surely Christ delivers us from bad situations, bad places, bad people and bad hands we've been dealt in life. . .we think this way, yet overlook the worse thing pulsing in our lives. The sin within. G.K. Chesterton the great British journalist was once asked to respond to an editorial that posed the question "What's most wrong with the world today?" Chesterton's response was simple, yet profoundly true. He wrote: "Dear Sir: Regarding your article 'What's Wrong with the World?', "I am". Yours truly, G.K. Chesterton We need deliverance from the sin within. . .daily. And, so repentance is coming to the place where we have become convinced that "I am" most what's wrong with the world. Repentance is thus the cry of a heart that needs deliverance from nothing other than one's own self. And, in a very tangible way, repentance is a bidding to die to our old self. And, lo and behold, we find that in such a death, we turn towards a God who exchanged his own life for ours. Paradoxically, as we lay down our life, we come face to face with the One who has already exchanged His life for ours. And, lo and behold, we have been delivered. In dying to the false-self, we are granted a new-self that is being renewed in the image of our Creator.

If I Stand. . .

This song has given me great joy and hope over the years. I recently listened to this and it was the perfect prayer for a close friend who is in lots of pain. Whether bursts of joy or the devastation of pain, we have a God who is deeper yet. Who is in all things and who makes all things new.

enjoy. . .

The Heidelberg Catechism

This is a beautiful reminder of the basis of all life and reality for the person who calls himself a Christ follower. It's the first question from the Heidelberg Catechism which simply reads as follows:

What is your only comfort in life and death? "That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, wherefore by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him".

My Child's Soul

Friend and fellow pastor, Jeremy Mavis, recently blogged about our children's spiritual development and the cultural mandate to "outsource" our kids to specialists in every conceivable area under the sun (athletics, academics, the arts, and yes even religion). Here he wonders about the impact of outsourcing the primary role given to parents by God. . .the spiritual formation of their children. In this excerpt, He quotes from another pastor,David Wakerly, who muses over the same thing.

Here's the link: http://jeremymavis.com/2011/03/28/outsourcing-our-childrens-spiritual-development/

Outsourcing Our Children’s Spiritual Development?

Yesterday in church, Matt Jones shared about his role as a parent in the lives of his children. Specifically, Matt was alluding to his job (along with his wife, Cara) as the chief source of spiritual development for his children. While he appreciates the role of the church (particularly its programs), he does not “outsource” his primary role to the church. In other words, he doesn’t leave how his kids are going to turn out spiritually up to the church Sunday School program and mid-week gathering time. Matt said these church programs are great collaborative efforts to subsidize (not replace) what he and Cara are doing as parents with their kids.

Kudos to Matt and Cara Jones for starting this conversation in our church community. I really appreciate it.

I came across a blog post the other day that went right along with what Matt talked about:

"I have outsourced my child’s swimming development.

You see, I’m just not an expert on the subject. I haven’t studied swim theory and I am completely unfamiliar with what it takes to learn how to become a swimmer even to the most basic of levels… which I would assume is ‘not drowning’.

So – I am comfortable with giving away control of my child’s swimming ability to a professional. In fact it seems to be working; my firstborn no longer screams when he observes large bodies of water and is slowly heading towards the aforementioned ‘not drowning’ level of swimming ability.

As parents and rightly so, we want to open up our children’s worlds as wide as possible and allow them to experience life to the full. My children will study science at school but may not become scientists; maths, but may not become mathematicians. So I am comfortable allowing many of these skills to be developed by teachers far more capable than me (especially maths ☺).

At this point in his short life, it is highly unlikely that child No.1 will become a professional swimming athlete. His parents simply don’t have it in them to generate the kind of passion for swimming that he would need to succeed in that arena. But on the off-chance that he develops a passion for and wants to pursue a career in professional sports then I’m confident my attitude will completely change and I’ll become far more involved in the training and discipline that it will take to pursue that dream.

Far above any academic or physical achievement that my children can attain is my desire for them to have an Olympic-sized faith. I desire to have kids who can stand up to the culture of this present age and live in such a way that they demand the attention of the world. I want my children to have the kind of faith that moves mountains and stands strong against any trial or tribulation that they will face; to grow up in a way that identifies them as a living, breathing ambassador of Christ on earth.

As parents, we tend to take quite a structured view of the education of our children. Emphasis is placed on testing and exams because we are led to believe that these processes indicate or lead to success. Here in Australia this culminates with the HSC (Higher School Certificate) in the last year of High School; the mental and psychological equivalent of David facing Goliath for many kids.

So where is the structure for my son’s spiritual development? Where is the passion to see my boy become an expert in his field, a champion in his arena?

This will take more than a ‘one hour a week’ soccer practice. I need to commit fully to this process because although not every child will become an athletic champion, every child can become a spiritual champion.

We may never get up at 5:30am to take our children to swimming practice in the local pool, but what is the equivalent for your child’s spiritual journey? Let that question drive you to your knees in prayer to seek God and ask His help to engage the hearts and minds of your children as you train them in the way that they should go.

Every child is different and every child’s spiritual journey requires us to listen to the Holy Spirit closely as we strive to raise children who love God and love people.

At Hillsong church most of our families do not attend every week, in fact on average they attend once a month. Can you think of any other area in life where 25% was good enough for success? They are missing out on 75% of the training and teaching that we as a church work hard to give the children we have been entrusted with.

Don’t think for one minute I am being religious about this – I am not suggesting attendance to keep up appearances. The reality is that your child will be at Church a maximum of 70 hours this year (if you attend each week), but they will attend school for maybe 1,500 hours and STILL apparently need homework to complete their learning.

Attending church every week will not guarantee your child grows up to be a spiritual champion, but it’s a pretty good start. Deuteronomy 6 places the primary spiritual responsibility for your children on you as a parent. But we as the church occupy a unique position in the life of your family – one that cannot be replaced with clubs and teams. This is the house of God, a gathering of the saints together and an absolute essential in the lifestyle of a Christian family.

So be careful not to prioritise the preparation of your children for a future that may never eventuate. Instead, give your life to establish a legacy for your children and your children’s children.

You cannot outsource your child’s spiritual development".

-David Wakerley

Shallow Small Group

Ever had a day when you just felt like throwing in the towel?

This one made me laugh.

Gospel Growth

I've been doing training once a month for all our group leaders. We have been talking a lot about "gospel growth". This idea of gospel growth was inspired by a workshop I recently attended called "The Trellis and Vine Workshop" by Mattias Media. Great stuff.

The Scriptures are clear that God has called us to gospel growth. Colossians 1 talks about the gospel that is ever growing inside us "since the day we received it". Paul is saying here that the gospel has a life of its own. Of course, that "life" is the very life of Jesus imparted to us through the Holy Spirit. If the goal of a congregation is gospel growth, a great question to ask is "what conditions promote gospel growth in a church and in an individual life?"

We have been focusing on the "3P's" that promote gospel growth:

1. Proclamation of the Gospel-As we proclaim the gospel with the help of the Spirit the Scriptures say that it is received or rejected by men. When received, that gospel is the power of God germinating inside a heart, and it begins to grows, grow, grow. Are we proclaiming the full truth of gospel in clear and compelling ways?

2. Personal Relationships-God's main "method" grow the gospel is person to person. Like a highly contagious virus, the gospel is transmitted through intimacy and close proximity. Programs, processes, and presentations are all good...but God's main means of growing the gospel in another is YOU! Are we building personal relationships with those whom God leads into our lives?

3. Prayer- Prayer grows the gospel in others. Look at Ephesians or Colossians...Paul is constantly bathing those congregations in prayer in his epistles. He prays for their eyes, their hearts, their ears, their lives to all be showered by God's power and love so that the gospel permeates their lives. We must pray that the kingdom of God advances in the lives of people! Are we daily in prayer for those personal relationships that God has placed in our lives?

Are you and your church gospel centered?

This is a great little interview of Jeff Vanderstelt on the centrality of the gospel. A gospel-centered life is goes well beyond "getting saved". And, a gospel-centered church is much more than church with gospel preaching. Because the gospel is the power of God, it cannot be reduced into bite size peices within our lives or the life of the church. The gospel is multi-faceted and an ever expanding and growing reality within the life of a believer and the life of a church. I encourage you to keep a pen and paper handy and jot down some notes. Then, beased on your notes, assess yourself. Are you and your congregation truly gospel centered?

Justin Anderson & Jeff Vanderstelt talk Gospel Centrality from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

Glorying in the Cross

The word salvation in the life of the Christian loses its luster after time. We talk about being saved in a very objective, rational sort of way. Yet, anyone saved from death would never simply discuss their deliverance in a merely factual way.

Take note of your thoughts, attitudes and words pertaining to the gospel. Does the cross still grip you? Does it stun or amaze you? Perhaps the right questions for maturing believers is not "have I been saved?", but rather am I today stunned, amazed and overwhelmed by Jesus' work on the cross? I would argue that if we are not deeply affected by glorying in what Christ accomplished for us on the cross, then our salvation is becoming way too much a past event instead of a present reality.

I don't know about you, but I need the gospel daily. And, yes, God did "save" me in the past. But, I also need deliverance each day. And, He delivers by distributing his grace freely to my area of need. The freshness of experiencing the gospel daily has been helping me stay routinely overwhelmed by the cross.

Are you currently stunned, amazed and overwhlemed by what your Lord did for you? Does your obedience to Christ arise out of sheer obligation to do the "Christian" thing, or in loving response to the grace offered you in Christ?

How do we keep our faith fresh and amazing? Never, ever cease meditating upon or glorying in the cross of Christ.

Eyes to see

Josh Bell, the world renown violinist was asked to participate in an experiment with the Washington Post which asked the question, "In an ordinary setting, at an inappropriate hour, would people notice beauty?" The answer should not shock us. The worlds greatest violinist played some of the most intricate and beautiful pieces of music ever composed for almost an hour in a busy subway station in Washington DC on an ordinary Friday morning (disguised in a pair of blue jeans and baseball hat) and went virtually unnoticed.

The result of the Posts experiment (people do not see beauty when its staring them in the face) should not surprise us. The Scriptures say that our sin nature eclipses our ability to see beauty, grace, truth, God. The most shocking social experiment revealing this simple fact was the incarnation. The apostle John sadly reports "He was in the world and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, and his own received him not."

As I watch this incriminating video, it drives home the realization that God Himself walked this earth full of grace and truth (John 1:14), but because he had no worldly beauty or majesty attached to him, we despised him and esteemed not. The eyes that were fashioned to gaze upon and bring glory to their Creator, ignored their Creator. How sad.

Are we any less blind today? Do you have eyes and still fail to see? Are you like those in the Metro Station who scurry past beauty and grace, when it comes incognito, or are you like one of those who stopped, recognized and received? Not many noticed Jesus. Most ignored, but some were compelled to stop in their tracks. Disciples are those called by God to stop, recognize and receive Him.

Not many see. "But, to all who receive Him. . .He grants the rights to become children of God" (John 1:12).

Enjoy.