The Enemy Within: Chapter 9 (Pt 3)

I ended the last entry with the thought from Kris Lundgaard that every bit of "the deception and temptation we've been discussing [in previous posts] has one intent: to convince the mind that this sinful act is somehow 'good' for the soul so that the affections hunger for it, and the will chooses it" (103).

This is the scheme, the method, the procedure your flesh is working on you to do what it, not God, wants. Therefore, it fights like hell to keep you ignorant of what its doing--that's one of the reasons why true prayer and Bible study are so hard.

Now, what're some of the specific tactics the flesh uses to lie us into thinking sin is good for us?

1. Twisting Scripture -- The flesh has you focus so much on what the Bible says about God's love (cf. John 3:16; 1 John 4:8) that He becomes a doting grandfather who will always forgive, rather than a holy God who holds us accountable for our actions as an act of love.

2. Double Standards -- The flesh makes you believe you're case is special, you're sexual immorality is OK because "We love each other," and "What is marriage, but just a piece of paper?" and "If it makes me happy it can't be that bad." Your embezzlement is OK because "I can't pay my bills" or "Corporations are evil anyway" or "I deserve this for all the mistreatment."

3. Keeping You In The Dark -- The flesh fools us in the specific areas where we're ignorant of God's Word: the father who relinquishes teaching his kids the Bible (Deut 6:4-9) to the youth pastor. Therefore, study God's Word daily so that you obey the command to "find out what pleases the Lord" (Eph 5:10).

4. Don't Worry About It -- You should hate and repudiate the flesh when it whispers "This sin isn't that bad--you don't need to go to all that trouble against this little thing. Other Christians, even great saints in the Bible, have committed far more grievous sins than yours, yet God forgave them. Don't worry about it--everything will work out okay in the end" (106).

Bottom-line: What am I doing to kill this enemy within your soul? Am I apathetic to it's schemes? Do I care that it hates God and wants my actions to reflect that hatred more than anything? Am I indifferent to those treasonous desires against the Lover of my soul? Or, do I care more about the Super Bowl?

Confronting Their Lord

This is a terribly insightful chapter from Augustine's Confessions. I'm constantly amazed at how insightful he on his own soul, and how eloquent he is. I understand how this is considered a classic of Western literature, let alone Christian literature. I reprint the chapter in its entirety here for your benefit. He said...

"Meanwhile my sins were being multiplied. My mistress was torn from my side as an impediment to my marriage, and my heart which clung to her was torn and wounded till it bled. And she went back to Africa, vowing to You never to know any other man and leaving with me my natural son by her. But I, unhappy as I was, and weaker than a woman, could not bear the delay of the two years that should elapse before I could obtain the bride I sought. And so, since I was not a lover of wedlock so much as a slave of lust, I procured another mistress—not a wife, of course. Thus in bondage to a lasting habit, the disease of my soul might be nursed up and kept in its vigor or even increased until it reached the realm of matrimony. Nor indeed was the wound healed that had been caused by cutting away my former mistress; only it ceased to burn and throb, and began to fester, and was more dangerous because it was less painful" (VI.15).

This is a man in bondage. He had his mistress, if I remember correctly, for over a decade, but his mother arranged a marriage for him to a very young girl--he says, two years too young.

This was not easy as it tore his heart to bleeding to leave his mistress.

He particularly focuses on her vow not to know another man. He is caught by these words because he couldn't make that kind of commitment. He was trapped by his sin, "a slave of lust." So he got another mistress whose company relieved the burning and throbbing of loosing the first.

As he looks back, he understands that a binding sin in a person's life is a disease of the soul that people "nurse" and "keep in vigor" and even "increase."

It is here that our evangelism must confront a person, as we'll see with Augustine. What is lord? What's going to control / rule their heart? This may take awhile, but we must keep this in mind whenever giving the gospel to a person.

Grandpa Update

My grandpa Hoover just got back from the doctor where we found out one bad news and two good newses.

The bad news is that when he fell last week and landed on his bedside table, he broke a rib. There's no treatment for that. It simply heals on its own.

The good news is that he gained one pound and his liver function is improving.

Worship, Pastoring & The Savior

Here are some highlights from my Bible reading today.

A psalm of worship...

Psalm 67

0 A Psalm. A Song.
1 God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us-- Selah.
2 That Your way may be known on the earth, your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for You will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.
6 The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

...a mission statement for pastors...

"We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me" (Colossians 1:28-29).

...and to exalt the Savior.

Jesus "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:15-20).

Christian Life: I Did It My Way

Augustine tells of a socialist plan he and his friends conceived that went south as soon as they considered what their wives would think of it in chapter 6, paragraph 14 of his Confessions. His comment on their plans shows the folly of fighting against God's will in our lives.

"...our steps followed the broad and beaten ways of the world; for many thoughts were in our hearts, but "Your counsel stands fast forever." In Your counsel You mocked ours, and prepared Your own plan...."

What plans are you making that more resemble the "ways of the world" than the wisdom of God? Don't know? How well do you know the wisdom of God found in His Word so you can check what kind of plans you have? This is the question I keep asking myself.

Grandpa Update

My grandpa, who's name by the way is Hoover Cox, fell last night. At around 3am he stood up after retrieving something that fell from his dresser when he got dizzy and tipped backwards, hitting the middle of his back on a small table and landing on his bed.

Today, he has a swollen lump with a bruise and cut where his back hit the table, and I'm sure he's getting more and more depressed about his condition. Again, any advice would be very helpful, as well as your prayers. Thank you.

The Enemy Within: Chapter 9 (Pt 2)

Do you find yourself saying "I'm not perfect. I'll never be perfect. God knows I'm not perfect, so He can't expect me to be perfect, to be sinless, to not sin so I can cut myself some slack. Besides, it's mentally unhealthy to get down on yourself for any reason. I need to keep a high self-esteem. That's healthy. I should not get mad at myself when I sin. I should accept it."

Is that, or something like it, you? If it is, you're dead wrong, and not able to obey some obscure, but very important commands in the New Testament--commands to kill your own sin.

Since reading this book, I've taken to putting the words "mortify" in the margin next to verses on this subject. It's not complete, but this is what I have so far...

"if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Rom 8:13).

"those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24).

"may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal 6:14).

"consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry" (Col 3:5).

This is the task we need to get our wills to truly believe is good, which should not be too hard for the Christian were it not for the flesh. You see, "God created the will so that it only chooses what it believes to be good for or agreeable to the soul" (103).

Keep this in mind, every bit of "the deception and temptation we've been discussing [in previous posts] has one intent: to convince the mind that this sinful act is somehow 'good' for the soul so that the affections hunger for it, and the will chooses it" (103).

That sentence is the key. That is the scheme, the method that your flesh wants you and me to be ignorant of (2 Cor 2:11). This knowledge is the first step towards being able to stand firm against them (Eph 6:11).

Grandpa Update

I talked to my grandpa last night, and told him about all of you praying for him. He wanted me to let you know how grateful he is for all of you and and how kind you are to pray for someone you don't know.

Also, he's been suffering every night for months from restless leg syndrome where his legs, especially his left, have a dull, achy pain all night that keeps him from sleeping. Many nights he's up past 3, 4 or 5am!

Well, God was particularly gracious toward him last night. After talking with him and encouraging him to keep fighting he asked if I'd place my hand on his leg and pray for it, so I did. He just told me that his leg didn't hurt at all last night and that he slept just fine.

Praise God, and thank you all for your prayers!!!

Passion & Pastoring

These are some excerpts from my Bible reading today that God used to really minister to me. The first has to do with a person's passion, and the second has to do with the role and responsibilities of a church and its pastor(s).

I'm convinced that the key to reading anything well, especially the Bible, begins with reading slowly, so give it a try and let me know what you think.

Psalm 63:1-4

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

Ephesians 4:11-16

And [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Grandpa Update

My mom told me today that my grandpa told his girlfriend that he feels like giving up.

By the time I got home, he was already in bed so I could not talk with him.

So, please pray for his physical, mental and spiritual well-being and that I'll have wisdom in what to say and how to say it.

I love my grandpa very very much, and want to do all I can to encourage him not to give in, but to continue fight against cancer. Thank you.

Real Objections While Evangelism

Augustine spoke of the steps it took for him to be saved in his Confessions (see an indication of this in Book VI, chap 1 here and my comments on it here).

At the end of chap 11 and at the beginning of chap 12 (see both here) he talks about the real reason why he kept himself from giving his life fully to Christ. He said:

"I delayed my conversion to the Lord; I postponed from day to day the life in thee, but I could not postpone the daily death in myself. I was enamored of a happy life, but I still feared to seek it in its own abode, and so I fled from it while I sought it. I thought I should be miserable if I were deprived of the embraces of a woman, and I never gave a thought to the medicine that thy mercy has provided for the healing of that infirmity, for I had never tried it. As for continence [i.e., self-control], I imagined that it depended on one’s own strength, though I found no such strength in myself."

And...

"I quoted against [Alypius] the examples of men who had been married and still lovers of wisdom, who had pleased God and had been loyal and affectionate to their friends. I fell far short of them in greatness of soul, and, enthralled with the disease of my carnality and its deadly sweetness, I dragged my chain along, fearing to be loosed of it. Thus I rejected the words of him who counseled me wisely, as if the hand that would have loosed the chain only hurt my wound."

Augustine resisted the happiness to be found in Christianity because he was enthralled with the deadly sweetnesses of sexual immorality. This kept him from becoming a Christian after the intellectual hindrances were removed (and, I suspect the reason for his intellectual objections was his love of sexual sin).

Augustine's life reminds us that when doing evangelism there are the dozens of objections a person gives us, and then there are the real ones. Ask God for wisdom to see these through the smoke screens we're so often trying to blow away.

The Enemy Within: Chapter 9 (Pt 1)

So far, Kris Lundgaard's The Enemy Within has described the progression sin hopes to take in us.

First, it attacks our mind with deception. If we believe it, second, it captures our emotions so that we crave the sin we're being deceived with.

Third and last, if we're going to sin, our will has to say "I do." Our will, the choosing faculty in the human soul, has consented to what the mind deemed OK and the emotions desired.

If this happens, we sin.

Now, according to the Bible, when unbelievers consent to sin its "full, absolute, complete, and with deliberation...[so that] the soul plunges into sin like a ship in full sail with the wind at its back" (100). This is not true for a Christian

When a real Christian sins "there is always a secret reluctance" so that when he sins it is like "a ship sailing against the wind--the wind may be stiff or light, perhaps even hardly felt, but it is always there" (101).

Do you feel this when you're about to sin? Do you? If you don't, you may not be a Christian, or, you've trained yourself to ignore the conviction of God's Spirit and the voice of your conscience (if it's informed by God's Word) so that you're unmoved by their warnings.

Either way, you're in big trouble.

Excursus, The Enemy Within (Pt 3)

Kris Lundgaard states that "sin tries to persuade your mind to be happy with having a general aim of doing things to the glory of God, without ever considering particular ways to glorify God" (83).

If you add up all the particular drives / reasons for what you do, you'll find the overall purpose of your life, the target your whole life is shooting for, the goal every small action is trying to achieve.

For instance, in counseling we used a kid from my youth ministry days as a test case. The teacher asked me to describe as much of his behavior as I could. On the board he drew a tree and whenever I'd say a different behavior he'd draw a circle symbolizing fruit with an arrow from it with what I said about his behavior.

Then, where the root system should have been he instead drew a heart with the words "I want __________." His thesis: You complete the sentence by making a statement that describes every piece of fruit on the tree, the behavior being the fruit of his heart's desires.

In other words, there was one general desire that manifested itself in at least a dozen particular sinful behaviors. As an aside: Once you've identified that overarching desire you can now counsel them to repent of this sinful desire and replace it with one that is more godly, at which time the heart is changed.

I say all that to say, don't be satisfied with a general desire to please and glorify God. That's too vague. Seek instead to fulfill that goal, not in the macro, but in the micro--at you job, in your marriage, when you watch TV, how you dress.

What's driving you in those particular situations determines whether or not your general goal is the glory of God or not.

Chapter 8, The Enemy Within (Pt 3)

If your flesh is a fisherman using the "pleasures" of sin to lure you in and hook you, the goal in fighting sin is not to get caught.

And, if temptation is directed at your heart and gains access to it through your mind, the way we achieve our goal (of not getting caught by sin) is by guarding our hearts (Prov 4:23). In other words, "we guard most closely what we most treasure" (96), and in this case we need to most treasure our hearts.

This is a novel concept for me who, until recently, allowed every destructive, heart-assaulting danger to have access to my heart in the things that I watched and listened to. Sadly, I'd guard my baseball cards, my coin collection, my books, my car, my computer and countless other trinkets while leaving my heart totally unprotected.

I guess I started buying into the talk of a culture that devalues the most valuable (the heart, the gospel, Jesus, etc.) and highly values the least valuable (money, looks, waist size, hairdo, titles), spiritually and eternally speaking.

By allowing my heart to be enticed by these dangerous "pleasures," I was giving it objects to latch onto, to believe are desirable and necessary for my fulfillment. Rather than "setting my mind on things above" I was setting it "on earthly things" (Col 3:2), which, over time, tore my heart from Christ and attached it to His enemies.

Practically speaking, we're to train our hearts to be latched on to Christ, His beauty, His work, His Cross, God, His glory, the gospel, truth, wisdom, love for others, etc. "Daydream about how much love [Jesus] showed you as he hung naked in your place." Get worked up by these things and "see if the baits and lures of the flesh don't grow ugly and repulsive" (97). They will because this guards your heart.

As you do this, you must also keep those affections for God warm. There are cool winds blown by the flesh that put the fire for these things out. Therefore, you must "constantly stir them up" (97). I try to do this when I read my Bible. When I'm finished reading I ask "How can what I just read make me happy in God? How should these things increase my joy in God?"

You do these things and sin feels cramped and claustrophobic inside you and you heart stays guarded.

Actualy Using Your Mind (excurses)

In reading this chapter I was reminded of the importance of thinking and analyzing why we do what we do (even when serving God). We need to use our mind to check if our heart is in the right place "you won't grow in obedience if you merely pile up duties." This chpt made me stop and check, why do I serve God; but more powerfully separate my mind from my heart and will and as a tool objectivly analyze myself in the light of God's expectations "duty... w/out affections is abominable to God."

By training your mind you can not only learn about yourself, but you can also detect the attempts your flesh makes against you "the minute you engage your mind to please the Lord, you'll find the flesh resisting every thought."

I think the most important part of separating your mind from yourself takes honesty. The first thing I realized was my weaknesses, and my first insticnt was to lie to myself. To be honest I think most people do this and the great tradgedy is i believe most people lie to themselves and they don't even know that they are doing it. It's in truly using your mind that you can separate it too see yourself. And you can even use it as a tool agaisnst your flesh "think about Gods sovereignty, the punishment of sin, the love of God, the blood of Christ, the indwelling holy spirit."

I hope to any reader this wasn't rambling, but an insight to using your mind as a spiritual tool. Since it was a revelation of the inner workings of my mind. Though my motivations were for you to be pleased and find insight; I long for God to inspire me to write to please him alone.....I had to be honest...are you???

Behold The Holy God (Ezek 36)

While reading Ezekiel today I was deeply struck with these words, and just how different they are from the therapeutic portrayal of God perpetrated on us by much of American Christianity. God says:

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the LORD, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight"'" (vv. 22-23).

After that, my next thought was: How do I profane the name of God? God, help me not to be marked by these words. Help me to see where I've profaned Your name among those I know, and how I can fix that in my own life as well as with them.

Grandpa Update

UPDATE: After 7 hours, he's out of the doctors and back home.

So far, he's taken the chemotherapy very well. He slept a lot during the process, ate some lunch and was laughing a little bit after it ended.

He's feeling fine, has a good amount of energy and is eating some more right now.

Thank you for your prayers. He has a pump attached to his pick line that is giving him a steady flow of chemotherapy medicine for the next 4 days.

He'll return to the doctor for a check up next Tuesday.

Praise the Lord for His goodness throughout this whole ordeal!

*******

If you think of it later this morning, please say a prayer for my grandpa between the hours of 8-11am PST.

He's starting his first round of chemotherapy for the stomach cancer that has spread to his liver and possibly his pancreas. He, and we, need all the prayer and advice and support we can get.

Thank you.

Warning to Pastors (Ezek 34)

Pastors, please take heed, listen to, and beware of these words spoken to you by the prophet Ezekiel from God Himself:

The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them (vv. 2-10 ESV).

Notice, I counted six times in ten verses God making it very clear that we're not to marginalize these words because they are His, they come from Him.

God is indicting His shepherds for using His people, rather than serving them. Among other things, He is condemning the kind of professional attitude that has arisen in American Christianity where pastors use their congregations for their own personal gain and aggrandizement.

These are sobering, James 3:1 type words that I need to keep very close to my heart to let them dictate my life, relationships and ministry.

Chapter 8, The Enemy Within (Pt 2)

Your flesh hides the consequences of sin underneath the perceived pleasures of sin, like the worm or the lure hides the fishing hook.

I used to steal candy from 7-11 on almost a daily basis. I'd take orders from my friends at basketball practice, fill my pockets when the cashier wasn't looking, and run back to practice with the spoils.

The pleasure of eating the candy, and even more so the pleasure of my teammates thinking I was cool hid the hooks of a damaged character and an increasing comfort with sin from my view so that I'd chomp down on it day after day after day, that is, until the clerk caught me and told me never to come back. Funny, it's been over 15 years and I still haven't been back to that 7-11.

So, how do you know when sin's hooked you?

You know your hooked when your imagination matches the vision your flesh has of a world free of God's rule, where you can do your own thing, where you can do what you want, where your free from any interference from God, where you're the king or queen of your own life.

In other words, when "your imagination can't turn off the flesh's images of evil, you're hooked" (94).

Remember, your mind guards your soul. It's job is to judge every word, thought, idea, belief, desire as to whether or not it'll please God. When your emotions are working correctly, they "long for and cling to what the mind says is pleasing to God, and are repulsed by what angers him" (95). If it's the other way around in any given situation, you're hooked.

As I sit here, my thought is "I may think about [fill in the blank], but I'd never do it. The thought of sin comes in my mind and I don't entertain it too long. I try to fight it off quickly." This is the problem. A person doesn't do things he or she hasn't already thought about doing--even for a split second.

Be careful! If you're daydreaming about sin, you're only a small step away from being hooked.

Grandpa Update

Thank you all for your prayers on my grandpa's behalf. He gained 2 lbs. since last week (Hooray!!!), had a good report from the doctor about his blood work and is doing better than the doctor expected.

Thursday is the big day when he, or really we start chemotherapy. His appointment is at 8am (Pacific Standard Time) and should last around 2 hours. This is when he gets his big dose, followed by four smaller doses at home this week.

Thank you for your prayers. His energy is up. He's eating, walking around and for the past two days he's been sitting outside for an hour or so in the sun.

God has been so kind in saving my grandpa, seeing him through his surgery, strengthening his body and deepening his resolve.

Please continue to pray for his health, both physical and spiritual, and for us, especially my mom, as we help him through some very difficult days ahead. Any advice you might give would be a huge blessing and greatly appreciated.

Chapter 8, The Enemy Within (Pt 1)

Anyone who's been fishing knows that you can't drop a naked hook into the water and expect a fish to impale himself on it.

The hook "has to be decorated by a worm or a fly or a spinner or a plug...to be desirable, attractive, alluring" because the "bait doesn't just invite--it seduces" (91; italics in original).

This is what our flesh does to our emotions when it tries to hide the consequences of sin underneath it's pleasures. If we are attracted to and desire the seductions of sin, we will impale ourselves on it's consequences.

This is where your imagination comes in. Your flesh "wants you to dwell on and savor [sins] until you can't stop thinking about them, until you start plotting and scheming ways to make the fantasy a reality" (92). It succeeds "when it makes you forget or ignore or not care about the hook whose dim outline you see beneath the feathers and flash of the lure" (93).

If you begin to imagine sin as pleasurable, desirable, alluring, attractive than your emotions you're hooked because "once the [emotions] are enticed, the will soon follow with its happy consent" (93).

Warning to Pastors (Ezek 33)

The authors of Scripture didn't have commands for bold or italics or underline so in order to emphasize something important they would repeat themselves.

In my readings in Ezekiel today God repeated Himself from chapter 3, and all Christians but especially pastors need to hear Him when He says:

"Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life" (33:7-9).

As a pastor, your job is to hear a message from God's Word and give the people that message. If you do not give them the warnings as well as the blessings of Scripture because you're afraid of coming off like a fundamentalist, or a fire and brimstone Puritan, or because you think you're being loving and encouraging, heed this warning from God through Ezekiel.

There will always be people who do not want to hear what God has to say:

"They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them" (33:31-32).

These kinds of people are not a neutral marketing segment for your gospel product. They rebelliously want God / spirituality on their terms not His. If you seek their approval as your highest goal, God will judge you for silencing Him.

Learning to Fear God

Ever since becoming a Christian, I have been captivated the biblical concept of fearing God, which is not exactly a mainstream Christian sermon topic these days. For years I've pondered the questions "What does this mean?" and "What does this look like in everyday life?"

In light of this, I've been making up personal Bible studies on the subject and I picked up The Fear of God by John Bunyan for guidance.

To be honest, I'm just under half way and I haven't been impressed overall. It's good, but like a bad or boring teacher, you may not like the whole lecture, but the key to learning is keeping an ear open for the gold nuggets that are occasionally dropped along the way. While I'd never say Bunyan is a bad or boring teacher, that's what I'm doing and I've really been impressed with the "nuggets" that fall from his pen.

One of these keen insights is this one:

"Take note: if the presence of God is not a dreadful and fearful thing even in His most gracious and merciful appearances, how much more so, then, when He shows Himself to us as one who dislikes our ways, as one who is offended with us for our sins!" (5).

You may not agree with this, but it is biblical.

Think of Peter's reaction after Jesus' gracious miracle of the huge catch of fish in Luke 5. How did he respond? As a small businessman, I'd expect to hear him saw "Jesus, that was great! What are you doing tomorrow? Do you want to go into business together?"

But, he does just the opposite: He falls on his and cries "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (v. 8).

Being in God's presence while He manifested His grace brought dread. That's something to think about, huh?

Sin and What We Love

Augustine's Confessions are a masterful look into the life of one man through his incredible ability to describe his thoughts, his desires, his heart to God.

Notice (you can read quote in context here at chapter X.16) how he links temptation to sin with what his friend loves:

There was one matter, however, which appealed to his love of learning, in which he was very nearly led astray.

His friend had a love, a desire for learning that needed to be satisfied. Learning is a good thing. There is nothing wrong with learning.

However, it was this good thing that was used by his flesh to almost cause him to stumble, which would've ruined the integrity Augustine was describing previously.

Lesson: Be careful. Even good desires can be used as a motivation for sin. Watch out for this. Thanks again Augustine.

Excursus, The Enemy Within (Pt 2)

Our mind is the watchman. He is keeping a watchful eye on our lives for the assault of sin from our enemy the flesh.

However, he cannot see the flesh's offensive without a kind of military training. In general, this training comes from getting God's Word into your mind, but specifically, Kris Lundgaard has given us two tactics for training our minds to love God.

First, as outlined in the last post below, we train our minds by thinking hard about pleasing God, about being obedient. I try to do this daily when I journal. Second, what we'll look at here, we train our minds for battle by thinking hard against sin. These are practical steps to train your mind for battle against sin as each step weakens the flesh's grip on us.

His first step is to meditate about God's sovereignty, His lordship, His kingship. This is powerful. He is the king and every sin is an act of treason against Him. This was on Joseph's mind when he responded to Potiphar's wife's advances with "How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?" (Gen 39:9).

Next, think hard about the punishment of sin. God is very clear that He will not tolerate sin in His people when He says "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY " And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE" (Heb 10:30).

Next, meditate on the idea that every sin is committed against your all-loving, all-kind and all-gracious Father. Think about His loving actions as recorded in the Bible, and then get specific and think about His loving actions toward you. Make a list with the idea that every good thing in your life is from God (James 1:17), and then think about sinning against Him.

Next, think hard about the Cross. Again, God's love is on display, but God's hatred for sin is also on display. Paul says the result of being Cross-eyed is that we will no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died for us (2 Cor 5:15).

Finally, meditate on the fact that when you sin you grieve the Holy Spirit who lives in you, defiling His dwelling place and forfeiting His comfort. I long for His comfort and assurance and sin robs me of that.

When you do these practical steps, don't forget that your flesh hates what you're doing. Watch for his sabotage, especially his attempts to make you spiritually lazy.

This watching is not a passive exercise, or one you can hand over to an accountability partner. Each of us is commanded by God to "watch," "be alert," "beware" of sin some 20 times in the NT (Matt 6:1, 16:6, 11-12, 26:41; Mark 8:15-16, 12:38, 13:37, 14:38; Luke 11:35, 12:1, 15; Acts 20:31; 1 Cor 16:13; 1 Thess 5:6; 1 Pet 5:8; 2 John 8). The idea here is that we're "to be diligent to not be surprised and entangled by temptations" (88). Make it your job to pounce on sin before it pounces on you.

However, you know you're not watching, not ready to pounce and becoming spiritually lazy if you aren't provoked by warnings against sin, aren't motivated to do your spiritual duties (me), and are easily discouraged and give up when difficulties come. "A lazy soul realizes he'll never be perfect, so he says, 'Why bother?' and is content with spiritual deadness and apathy" (88). Does any of this describe you?

Excursus, The Enemy Within (Pt 1)

In the posts on chapter 5 (see them here and here) we talked about the flesh's tactic of deception saying when the flesh deceives you like this, “you will sin” (55). Therefore, deception's primary target in the Christian is his or her mind. If the mind is deceived, the affections are entangled and the will consent to sin (cf. James 1:14-15).

The Enemy Within has a chapter excursus at this point called "Loving God with all your Mind." In it, Kris Lundgaard takes us deeper into how to protect the mind, get it ready for actions, against sin by speaking of the mind's duties to accomplish pleasing God.

First, the mind must obey fully. The Christian life is not about how close can I get to sin without sinning (something I heard about a lot being in youth ministry for 6 years). The Christian life is about how much can I please God in EVERYTHING I do.

Second, the mind must obey by faith, so that "no duty that is acceptable to God--can be performed but by the actual working of Christ, who is our life" (82).

Third, the mind must obey from the heart, meaning "the mind must watch over the affections in every duty to God" because " a duty offered to God as an act of mind and will without the affections is abominable to God" (82).

Fourth, the mind must obey God's way so that "your mind has to make sure you do everything the way and by the means God has commanded" (82). This has so many applications, but one can be the person who gives his money at church (out of duty), but no cheerfully, which is God's way to obey.

Finally, the mind must obey God for God's goals. The overarching goal being the glory of God, making Him look wonderful, great, awesome, magnificent. If that is not the goal of our obedience "the flesh will try to slip other motivations for your obedience, such as satisfying your conscience or winning the priase of your peers" (83), which ruins your obedience.

If you do this, train and make it your mind's goal to please the Lord, you can expect three counter moves from your flesh:

First, it will try to keep your mind from being specific. This is a general desire to glorify God without seeing this as being the goal is specific, particular actions and reactions.

Second, the flesh will try to make you content with doing you duty, whatever that may be in a given situation, without really wanting to do it. Your flesh will say "You ought to read you Bible, so read your Bible. Good, now go do what you want."

Third, it will try to get you into an obedience routine, doing your duty for duties sake, and never really obeying God in a way that is acceptable to Him because it has nothing to do with any of the five points above.

Your mind is at war with your flesh. Therefore, you need to give it bullets from God's Word, and you need to watch and be mindful that the counteroffensive it's always launching against you is real and effective though it is hidden so well.

Without the light of God's Word to expose the flesh and the power of the Spirit to overcome it we will not be able to "do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31).

Warnings to Pastors (Ezek 22)

In my daily reading of Ezekiel I was brought to these words:

"Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them" (v. 26).

God's things, especially God's Word, is holy. It is distinct from ALL other common or "profane" things.

There are vast movements within Christendom that make no distinction between God's holy Word and all the ologies and osophies and fads of mankind. They call for integration when God calls for distinction.

However, by making no distinction, these well-meaning but misled people are doing violence to God's word, which leads to disregard for God, then disobedience of God because He and His Word are being treated as common when He and His Word are anything but common.

This treating as common of God and His Word happens all the time. It was part of the reason for the rebuke of Psalm 50:21 "You thought I was just like you" when He and His Word are anything but.

Grandpa Update

We went to the doctor yesterday, and what an adventure in God's gracious providence it was.

We changed my grandpa's primary care because the doctor is 30 minutes away from us, and also because the doctor treated him for an ulcer for 2 to 3 years with no internal exams until October when he started loosing weight. Since September 2006, my grandpa has gone from 205 lbs to 165 on December 13th to 148 yesterday!

When his new primary care doctor heard this, he was outraged and worried. He immediately tried to get him in to see the oncologist next door, and he succeeded! Sadly, this oncologist didn't take my grandpa's insurance, but while we were waiting I found a magazine about how to care for someone with cancer called Caring4Cancer. This has a lot of good ideas we can use for his diet, a particularly difficult area with him right now.

We went from disappointment to happiness when his new primary told him he got him into see another oncologist two buildings over. When my mom got over to see him, she started to breakdown when they told her his appointment would be next week. The oncologist kindly saw my grandpa.

It turns out that this doctor, Robert A. Moss, M.D., was rated one of America's Top Physicians (as the magazine plaque said on the wall). He told my grandpa of the treatment options and gave him some perscrptions for his digestion and appetite, both of which aren't working well. My grandpa agreed to the chemotherapy, which may start late next week.

The amazing thing about all this: He wasn't taking anymore patients after noon because of the holiday. He told my mom later that this is the only day of the year his office is empty after noon. We just happened to walk into an empty office of one of America's Top Oncologists.

God, in His smiling and gracious providence, worked wonders yesterday. This is so encouraging. Please continue to pray for him, for us, for the medicines and for the doctors. My grandpa is taking medicines and pills and drinking teas to slow the cancer's spread. However, he is quite weak. He's not eating much because eating makes him feel nauseous. He is sweating a lot because the cancer has spread from his stomach to his liver. These are not good signs. My mom is worried because it seems he's not doing what he needs to do, as if he's giving in to the cancer. When I prayed with him tonight I asked him what he wanted me to pray for, and he said that he would pull out of this.

Sin as Medicine

In Augustine's Confessions (Book 6, paragraph 9), he makes this very insightful statement about how past sin can be used for future good in the heart and life of his friend Alypius:

"But this was all being stored up in his memory as medicine for the future."

The "this" is referring to Alypius' fall into temptation after he trusted in his own wit, ability and power to fight the sins of going to and enjoying the gladiatorial games (click here to read Augustine's recounting of Alypius' "this").

I did some Bible study on Proverb 11:2 today where the first line reads "When pride comes, then comes dishonor." Alypius' dishonor, his falling into sin and temptation--even before his watching and unbelieving friends, let alone his watching God--came as a result of his pride.

However, when we fall into sin Augustine tells us how we can use past sin, not to further condemn ourselves which is what we typically do, but to fight it. Used wisely, this sin could become, and Augustine was sure it would become, "medicine" to fight future infections of pride in Alypius' heart.

Think of your most recent sin. Got it? Now, picture yourself walking into the same situation again. I hate thinking of this, but its important. Augustine taught his friend and is teaching us 1600 years later that past sins can fight future sins. A fall in the past can keep us from falling in the future. Use past sins to fortify you against future sins, which over time works to kill sin in our hearts.

In a word from those funny Guinness commercials, Augustine is "Brilliant!"

Grandpa Update

It's been awhile since I've blogged about my grandpa's fight against stomach cancer.

He's been gaining strength very slowly as he's spent much of his time recently watching football (his favorite). He's lost another 10 lbs. so that he's gone from 205 to 160 in 4 months. Now, he cannot eat much because his stomach is so small (25% of its original size), but even if he could eat, nothing tastes good. This is quite strange because ever since I was a child I marveled at never seeing him come across a food he didn't like.

With no stomach and all foods tasting bad, he just looses more and more weight, which keeps him from getting strength to fight. He is drinking a lot of tea (especially Essiac) and taking his vitamins regularly, which may explain why he sweats so much, but it does not explain his frequent back aches.

We're going to the doctor tomorrow, Tuesday, to find out what the next steps are for him and what we can do about his diet. He changed doctors after the debacle of the last two months, so now he'll be going to Hoag, which we hope will be a better situation for him.Any explanation and/or advice on any of these ailments would be greatly appreciated.

Finally, we're praying almost every night before he goes to bed--something I've only dreamed of for the past 10 years. My grandpa was a cop and court clerk for many years, so when he confessed some sins on Christmas Day, I told him "That's what Christmas is all about. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, He gets all your sin and is punished--getting what you deserve. When you trusted Jesus' work on your behalf, you get all His perfection and get what He deserves--heaven. When your case comes up, God the judge says 'Thrown out for lack of evidence,'" to which he smiled really big.

So, please keep praying for his physical and spiritual health in the new year. Thank you.