Today we continued a series at Cornerstone called “Doctrine: What we Believe”, which speaks to what we as Christians believe, and how we are to go about living out those beliefs (see also How to Teach the Doctrine of Salvation on Sunday Morning for a previous week). Today Josh Agerton spoke about prayer in the life of a Believer and related it back to our gum-ball machine approach we often have to prayer. Put the quarter in the slot (the prayer), and what should happen is out pops the gum-ball (our answered prayer).
This is a brief overview or recap of that message, according to the notes I took anyway. You can always download or listen to a copy of the podcast when it gets posted on Monday (Feb 28th) or you can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes.
The Gum-ball Approach To Prayer: Transactional
Although this is how we often practice prayer, there isn’t a whole lot in scripture that backs up this method of prayer. Scripture says we have a need for prayer, constant prayer that builds a relationship with God, that calls on God. That goes all the way back to Genesis 4:25-26, but when do we actually pray today? When things are going well, all the time, or just when we are in “need” of something? When things are going well, is our prayer life terrible and vice-versa?
This is perhaps because we see prayer as “transactional” in nature. There is an action on two parts where I act, then God acts, making the prayer totally focused on ourselves, not God. I’ve got my prayer, I just need say the right words, send it over the right way, and God will then act and shoot out the “right” response.
The Relational or Transformational Approach To Prayer: Experience
Our approach to prayer should be one of building a relationship with God through constant prayer, in a way that transforms our life. This is what the apostles did in the book of Acts, they prayed. This wasn’t unique to the apostles though. All over scripture we are told to “ask” and it will be given, but how closely do our prayers match up with God’s will? We reach a crisis of faith that leads us to prayer and we “ask” for our answer to be given.
We pray for complete healing, and when that healing doesn’t come (especially in the time frame or way we desire), do we question God’s answer? Scripture clearly says our prayer is heard, but the prayer of Jesus in Luke 22:42 just before He is lead off to be executed is an amazing prayer.
22:41 And he [Jesus] withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Ultimately this is how we are to pray, and the reason is found in Luke 11.
11:10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.11 What father among you, if his son asks fort a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
As I have prayed for Deborah over the last several months I have tried to keep both of these sets of verses in mind, and I have tried to place them deep in my heart. Is praying like this easy? No way. It requires us to give up our own heart’s desire, something I have found very hard to do. I want my prayers answered the way I ask them to be answered, but deep down, I really want an all-knowing God to answer them to His glory and honor.
The Circular Prayer as Life Happens
This chart above was something Josh went over this morning but it was not meant to be a step by step process to prayer, more of an understanding of how we approach prayer and how God works through prayer (though I didn’t get the counterclockwise thing). I’m a visual person so I loved seeing this as Josh went over it. Basically, with continued, constant prayer, we will continue to build a relationship with God that leads back to God, not to ourselves.
It went like this from the chart above: God is enthroned –> life happens (sickness, job-loss, divorce) –> we have a need or burden –> we ask –> we enter a crisis of faith (I asked, why haven’t you answered yet God) –> faith (we are brought to faith with God) –> receiving (God manifests Himself in some way and you know and understand that God is indeed there) –> thanks and priase –> God is enthroned.
Aren’t sure what the “correct” way to come to God in prayer is or don’t know the “right” way to pray? To pull a saying from Nike… just do it, but Paul probably said it best in Romans 8:25 “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Often times I write my prayers out since speaking them I just tend to fumble through it. Either way I know He hears my prayers and answers better than I could ask.
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The God of Salvation surrounds us. Psalm 19:1 says even the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky abovet proclaims his handiwork. (ESV) This photo just reminds me of what a great God we worship.
In our society today there are probably as many personal interpretations of the Doctrine of Salvation, or how one can be saved, as there are people, and presenting an accurate picture on Sunday morning to a host of different beliefs and understandings is important. You could dive into all the different aspects of salvation, comparing and contrasting the doctrine according to Predestinary views, Calvinism, Arminianism, the views of Karl Barth, Liberal or Reformed Theology, to salvation by works, but Sunday morning probably isn’t the place in 2011. With a largely reduced attention span, and a time constraint of 15-30 minutes, depending on your church, a simple and straight forward, biblical based message, might land and grow roots that last.
For one thing, if you actually have educated views on the theology above you probably have an understanding of “how we are saved” according to scripture. If you don’t and are coming at salvation as an unknown, hearing the history of Bonhoeffer’s view on God’s relation to the secular world may fall on deaf ears. That’s one thing I love about our church. The leaders (and today Rusty) don’t shy away from the most important teachings of Christianity. Perhaps during the time of Jonathan Edwards when sermons lasted a few hours, or all day, that might have worked well, but today is a different day.
Below is just a recap of how it was presented this morning.
1. How are we saved? In many ways salvation is a process. It starts with a process, is marked by a point in time, and continues on as a process of living out that confessed faith. Rusty presented Romans 10:9-13, which says it perfectly:
if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
For the most part, at least in the United States, we no longer have to confess Jesus with our mouths at the risk of death, but we still live by this confession, and we should take it as seriously as Paul did when he made these statements. Philipians 2:12-13 Paul says
not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you
and for us today, that still means we are to “work out”, or put into practice in our daily lives what God has worked out in the Holy Spirit. We are not told to work FOR our salvation, but to work “out” the salvation God has already given us.
2. What are we being saved from? We are saved from death, from the anguish of Hell, and eternal separation from God, but also from the toil of life, a life of purposelessness (Ecclesiastes 1:9), spiritual deadness, and from a life of selfishness. In one of the most exacting and precise statements in scripture, Paul says, for by grace you have been saved through faith, it isn’t ever something we can earn. Only Jesus paid that price for us. Ephesians 2:1-3 explains it like this:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the bodyt and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 Butt God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
3. What are we saved to? We are saved to a spiritual life, a life that matters, and of course Heaven, with an eternity reconciled to God and Christ. As taught by Wesley (and briefly examined by Rusty today), we receive a prevenient grace, then a justifying grace, a sanctifying grace, and then finally a glorified grace in heaven. Once again Paul’s words can hardly be improved upon when he says
Colossians 1:19-22: For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him
and again in Ephesians
Ephesians 2:8-10: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
There are of course many other ways to present the Doctrine of Salvation on Sunday morning, but this just happen to be the way it was presented this morning, and I think it was quite effective for this church on this day.
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Something my study of Joshua examined this week was the correlation between the Old Testament literary devices (plot, characters, conflict), and the principles we the church try to pull from the Old Testament that don’t actually apply when viewed in the context of scripture. The post below was the result of that particular study.
Literary Features of Joshua 7:1-26
This section of Joshua addresses two interconnected stories, the defeat of Israel at Ai and the sin of Achan. This was basically Israel’s first defeat in the conquest, and after a stunning victory by God at Jericho, Israel suffered a humiliating defeat by a small city said to be no match (Joshua 7:3) for Israel’s might of 30,000 men.[1]
In this narrative, the author, generally said to be Joshua, uses a bit of irony by comparing and contrasting, the previous story in Joshua 2 about Rahab and the sheltering of the spies. The irony used by Joshua is that someone who had only heard of the God of Israel listened and obeyed (Joshua 2:21), while the sons of Israel who had actually witnesses God’s fulfilling promises and power, disobeyed (Joshua 7:1). Throughout both narratives many parallels are seen like this one. Rahab, a woman, was a Canaanite, and her family survived, while Achan, a man, was an Israelite, and his family perished. Rahab hid the spies on her roof, and Achan hid his stolen items under his tent. The Israelites, through God’s hand, won a great victory at Jericho by following God’s instructions, and they were humiliated at Ai when they failed to follow God’s instructions.
Another literary feature used in Joshua chapter 7 is a somewhat obvious cause and effect. When looking at Israel’s sin, the author makes a point to show that this sin was a grievous act against God Himself. More than just a theft and violation of the Eighth Commandment, (Exodus 20:15) it was an adulterous act. This was the same Hebrew term used in Numbers 5:12-13 to describe the betrayal of an adulterous wife, now used to describe Israel.[2] This act of sin was the cause of Israel’s defeat at Ai as the Lord’s anger burned against Israel (Joshua 7:1, 11-12). Joshua 7 is split into two sections, verses 1-15 dealing with Israel’s defeat, and verses 16-26 dealing with Israel’s sin. One section examines the event or action that then caused the effect in the other section. Ai was a small city, one that Israel should have easily taken (Joshua 7:3-4), but instead Israel lost 36 people (Joshua 7:5), and the previously promised city of Ai.
Interpretive Issues or Problems Often Presented Today
Many times the 21st century church is quick to point out all kinds of life application principles from the Old Testament that just are not present in the context of the written text. Context is extremely important when dealing with the Old Testament and many times the principles taken can do, what Haddon Robinson describes as, “the heresy of application” by creating what was never there in the first place (see “The Heresy of Application” by Robinson).[3]
In Joshua 7, principles from all across the spectrum of sin can be used for life application. Some principles are better than others, but some, like “effectively overcoming defeat” and “how to fight despair and depression” are probably not the principles the author had in mind when he wrote Joshua 7. Yes, Joshua basically whined, moaned, and mourned about Israel’s sin and loss at Ai (Joshua 7:6-7), much like they had done in the past (Numbers 11:4-6 and many others), but the overall context of the entire book of Joshua was not out to teach a principle about how to overcome depression.
Contextual Application Principles from Joshua 7:1-26
The application we can take away from Joshua 7:1-26 is about sin. This can be presented in so many different ways like fighting covetousness, secret sins, sin effecting more than just the individual, hidden sin that harms the whole church body, the small sin, fighting the sins of the flesh like gossip, criticism, envy, jealousy, and countless others examples that could be extracted from the reading of Joshua 7. An overall principle in the context of the book of Joshua is probably closer to a statement like “the worst enemy that you have is yourself.”[4] “[You] are the greatest handicap that you have in your Christian life”, and often the most destructive block to God’s blessings.[5] Israel was given the land by God; all they had to do was take it. There were three small enemies that stood in the Israelites way when they arrived, Jericho, Ai, and the Gibeonites. Israel’s army of 30,000 fighting men (Joshua 8:3) was no match for Ai (7:3); all they had to do was to keep from defeating themselves.
Another similar, in context, principle that can be taken from Joshua 7 would be that Christians today are given enormous spiritual blessings by God, but how many Christians live as if they have none, as if that are not really entitled to the blessings of God. Israel was given a huge piece of land (Joshua 1:3). God gave them title to over 300,000 square miles of fruitful land, and even at the height of Israel’s day, they only took possession of 10% of God’s promise to them, only about 30,000 square miles of the Promised Land.[6] How many Christians or churches in our 21st century culture are not taking possession of 90% of God’s blessing because of sin and unfaithfulness to God? Principles, even heretical principles, can easily be taken from the Old Testament scriptures and applied to our 21st century culture. Perhaps the most important principle in teaching from the Old Testament is the principle of context.
[1] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen and H. Wayne House, , Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary, ed. Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen and H. Wayne House (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), 284-285.
[2] David M. Howard, Jr., The New American Commentary: Joshua, Vol. V, Joshua (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001), 188.
[3] Haddon Robinson, “The Heresy of Application,” Preaching Today’s Sermons, 2001, http://www.preachingtodaysermons.com/heofap.html (accessed June 18, 2010), 16-19.
[4] J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Vols. 2, Joshua-Psalms, 5 vols. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1982), 16-19.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
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Sunday, we started a new eight week look at the book of Nehemiah. A few years ago I completed a class study (about 4 months long) just on the book of Nehemiah, scripture by scripture. Prior to that class I really had no idea who this man was or what he did. After the class I had such inspiration for how God had used Nehemiah and what he, through God, was able to accomplish for the people of Israel, that it has stuck with me ever since. Now, years later, I have certainly not rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, but I am still influenced each day by that study.
Now, I almost get to look at this series with fresh eyes and a new understanding of what God can do, with any of us, who have a passion and/or burden for the Lord and His work. To get the series started, Rusty put out three points about Nehemiah and I thought I would share them here, starting with Chapter 1, verse 4.
Nehemiah Had Deep Concern
After hearing from his brother about the condition of Jerusalem, scripture says Nehemiah wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed. Obviously over great concern for the state of the people of Israel, Nehemiah’s first step was to seek God. Although he was a great man of physical action, this wasn’t his first step, it was to seek out God, and show his genuine concern for what had happened.
Frequently the first thing we want to do when we see an injustice or something of concern is jump in with everything we have. As the Israelites had seen many times before, without God, much of what we do can be pointless, even if we are passionate about the issue at hand. When the Israelites refused to take the land, which God had promised to Abraham’s descendants, God punished them, not allowing them to take the land at that time.
They decided they were just going to go ahead and go anyway after being admonished by Moses, but then it was too late. In Deuteronomy 1:40-45 Moses recounts what happened. “And the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be defeated before your enemies.” (v. 42)
The Timing Was Deliberate
As with the example above, the phrase “timing is everything” is not just an empty saying, in many cases, it really is everything. Nehemiah didn’t just rush head first into a plan of action, he waiting on God’s timing. The text says he waited “for some days”, for God’s timing. It turns out Nehemiah waited about 4 months before putting God’s plan into action.
Often when we wait for God, we find God. God is in the waiting. Our 21st century culture knows almost nothing about waiting for anything anymore. We are just about as instant a society as one could be now, so waiting on God’s timing is hard. Do we not generally think our timing is God’s timing instead of the other way around today? Many times, I know at least in my own walk, I often can only see what was God’s timing through the lens of history.
Looking back it is easier for me to see when the timing was purely my own and when what I deemed to be doing nothing, was actually waiting for God’s own timing. Psalm 27:14 says “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord .” A tall order for us today, but one Nehemiah did before he went on to build a wall, and renew the spiritual life of a broken nation of Israel.
Nehemiah had a Deferential Attitude
Perhaps one thing that made Nehemiah such a great tool for God was his attitude. He was the greatest coach of all time, and it eventually translated into the people he lead to build the wall. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” I love that verse. We are not restricted in doing things for the glory of God on Sunday mornings, it says, “whatever” we do.
Nehemiah’s attitude was a game changer, he made the small picture big, the little things, huge, many times just with his attitude towards the work at hand, for the glory of God. When we are in the midst of the struggle, we cannot always see the whole picture, but God can. John Piper explains it in his classic book Desiring God that God can look through a wide angle lens or a narrow lens. He can see both our own seemingly small struggles, and yet see the entire picture and how it turns out in the end, we often can’t, but we can have the attitude of Nehemiah.
I am looking forward to the next 7 weeks to see what God has in store for Nehemiah, and His local church here in Auburn.
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This past Sunday we were privileged to have Brian bring the message to us and he spoke around John 3:30, He must increase, but I must decrease. It was a thought-provoking message but it left the details on how we are to carry this out in our lives something for us to think about and tackle on our own. There were and are many applications for this, but I started chasing my rabbit trying to think about why, and somehow landed on the song, “When Love Comes to Town” by U2. If everything we do and have comes from the Lord, and our actions are to glorify the Lord, then how do we do this.
To do this, we must not take His glory for ourselves. Not something very easy to accomplish, especially when you take today’s culture and modern technologies into consideration. We do almost everything for ourselves, with ourselves in mind.
Driven and drilled into us from day one in our great country (for those who live in the U.S.), life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which sometimes seems like the pursuit of ourselves. The American dream, to own a house, 2 cars, have 2.4 kids, a good career, and a full 401k. For some reason, “when love comes to town” reminded me of the reason for Christmas and even moving on into Easter, and the love He showed for all of us when He became flesh, and is why He deserves the glory.
The point of this message (at least in my interpretation) was to bring the Christmas season series to a close and bridge into our new and upcoming series on bringing our spiritual life alive, but I think we use the example we were given and use love to accomplish this. For God to increase, I must decrease, for me to decrease, I must do this out of love. To me, matters of faith start from the heart.
I was there when they crucified my Lord
I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword
I threw the dice when they pierced his side
But I’ve seen love conquer the great divideWhen love comes to town I’m gonna catch that train
When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town
As the year comes to a close, I always start thinking about a recap of where, what, when, and how of this year and what is coming up next year. This year and leading into next year, to bring my spritual life “alive”, I must decrease. [I am not sure why we only do this at year-end instead of all year-long, but it just seems like a natural break where we mark a point in time that has an end and a beginning at 12:00 midnight at on December 31st.]
Some random thoughts on how I can try to extend this into next year:
- read more
- do less for my reasons, more for His reasons
- work as if no one will ever know or see the results of my labor but God Himself
- remember I am working for His glory, not any one person
- give more :: time, money, effort, support, attention
- give up more :: control, of self…
- don’t give up when… I feel like it
- appreciate :: time, life more (not to be confused with Time Life)
- serve more
- make a don’t do list, and don’t do the things on my don’t do list
I like top ten lists but all the items above can be narrowed down to “love”, and I did what I did before love came to town. Happy New Year everyone.
