Hey y’all!

I am in the process and moving my blog. I’m on blogspot now. My new address is:

http://rediscoveryblog.blogspot.com/

I haven’t started posting yet, but any new stuff will be on that site.

See you there!

Grace and peace…

It would be so simple if we could just resolve ourselves to stop doing something and be done with it. But it does not always happen that way. Old habits can sometimes die hard, even when we know those habits are bad for us. There is always something that lies under the behavior, an attitude or desire that gives rise to the behavior itself. Unless that is dealt with, the behavior will not change. So in reality, to gain any ground in this or any other spiritual area, we must be clear about what we’re dealing with. This purity issue is fundamentally a heart issue. Before even ever get to the point of acting on our desires they are born in our hearts. We will not be successful in changing those outward actions until we change the inward desires that give rise to them. We must deal with our hearts.

What is the heart? The heart (or mind – they can both be used for this definition) is the seat of our emotions, desires, thoughts, ambitions, beliefs…the heart is the very essence of who we are. So when we are talking about our hearts as the word is used in the Bible we are not talking merely about feeling – we are talking about everything that makes up that intangible part of ourselves. This is the target of sanctification, the place of where transformation takes place. God wants to transform our hearts. He wants to change the way we think about things, the motives behind our actions, the things we strive for.

What we are talking about here is sanctification, which is becoming more like Christ. That is the purpose and goal of our Christian lives, to be conformed to the image of Christ. To pursue Him; His Kingdom; His righteousness; His rule and reign in our lives. This is our purpose as a Christian. This is a high and lofty goal that will take our entire lives – and even then, if will not be fully realized until we see our Lord face to face. We are to spend ourselves on the pursuit of Christlikeness.

But before we get to that, I want to take one step back and start with first things first. So let us take a moment and consider the Gospel. This is the key to it all – even the most mature Christian needs to hear the Gospel daily. All sin is rebellion against God, a rejection of His rule in our lives. This rebellion makes us objects of His wrath, for as we read in Romans 3, all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. In respect to our position before a perfectly holy God, the slightest infraction is cause for judgment and punishment. A favorite line I hear from many a pastor is that God does not grade on a curve. James 2:10 says that if you keep the whole law and yet falter on one point, you are guilty of the whole law. There is no wiggle room. God’s standard is absolute perfection, and none of us can boast this achievement. It is an impossibility in human terms.

Enter our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to earth and lived as we live. He was tempted in every way, and yet was without sin. After fulfilling the law of His Father perfectly, He gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sinfulness, the atonement for our rebellion, to satisfy the wrath of the Father against our sin. And what does that mean, practically, for you and me? It means that our sin has been forgiven; we have been saved from the wrath of God against sin because Jesus stood in our place.

Sexual sin is one of those sins for which Jesus died. If you belong to Him, you are forgiven of this sin. It is no different from any other sin for which Christ died – He died to make atonement for that sin and to set you free from the power of that sin.

So, the first step on the path toward purity is to recognize that we have forgiveness in Christ – that we are new creatures in Him. Psalm 103 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” How far is the east from the west? Can you fathom the distance? The point of this verse is that God no longer remembers our sin when we come to Him and trust in the Lord Jesus. Romans 5 tells us that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; Romans 8 says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. We are reconciled to God, adopted as His children, our sins atoned for and forgiven. They are gone, washed away in the blood of the Lamb.

The second the step is just as important as the first. Romans 6:6 says that in Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin. We are free from the power of sin, and are now free to be obedient to the Lord. How is this possible? Because the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. Take a moment and think about that…think about the power that was exerted to raise Jesus from the dead. Can you? That is the power that lives in us who believe – the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead! How much more can He help us in our weaknesses and temptations! They are nothing to Him compared to the immensity of His power!

It is so important that we understand this – we have the power to overcome this sin. We have the power within to say no even when our flesh wants to say yes. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the mystery; Christ in us the hope of glory! And because of all of this – His perfect life, His atoning death, His resurrection, and His indwelling presence – we are no longer slaves to sin. Praise God!

Can we take some time to glory in the cross? To praise the Lord for His love, His mercy, His grace, His power? To stand in awe of our great and awesome God? It is more than we can take in, if we allow ourselves to dwell on it. Let us saturate ourselves in this grace…it is the only way forward.

More later…

Grace and peace…

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God… 

The topic I am going to broach right now can make some a little squeamish. And I will admit, I didn’t want to write about this. I have fought it for a few weeks, which explains why I have written next to nothing in that time. But I cannot get away from it. And every time I try, the Lord brings it back to my mind.

 The most recent reminder was a visit from my parents. They brought with them some of my things that were still in their garage from when I lived in Champaign six years ago. Most of those things were books (too many books!), but I found a lot of my old writing in those boxes as well. I came across a presentation I had written about this topic for a conference I helped organize back in 2003. The theme of the conference was “Pure Passion”, and it was a conference for single Christian women seeking to live holy lives before the Lord. My topic: sexual purity. And as I read my presentation notes, I was amazed by it. I didn’t realize I knew that much! And, unfortunately, I seemed to have forgotten much of it in the ensuing years.

So, I think my main reason for hesitating in writing on this subject is because it is so personal to me. I am not writing this from a place of perfection – no purity pedestal for me. I live with the scars of sexual sin. Both before and after Christ, I have fallen into the trap of sexual sin, and have lived with the painful consequences of those decisions. So, in writing about this, I am opening a window to a very private part of my heart. I cannot speak as a casual observer; I must tap into the pain of my own life to share with you. But I feel so strongly that the Lord is calling me to do it, because I have a feeling I am not alone in this…

There are many out there who can be considered “the walking wounded”. We have bought the enemy’s counterfeit for intimacy and have paid the price. We are saturated with this lie and assaulted on every front. Our culture is obsessed with it; and even in the church there are multiple casualties of war. The battle for purity is a daily battle, one that must be fought with the power of the Spirit and the truth of the Word.

It is so deeply embedded in my heart that I must speak on this that I will take the risk of sharing my heart in this most intimate way. No fear – I will not share details, but I will be candid with you about my struggles. But I will also be candid about the truth of the Gospel, the beauty of grace, the renewing power of the Holy Spirit, the cleansing of the blood…the glory of God shining through and making beauty out of the ashes in my life.

With God all things are possible – spiritual purity in this area can be regained. God can renew and renovate. I have seen Him do so in my own life, and He continues to do so daily. As I seek to think His thoughts after Him, and renew my mind with His Word, He will continually renew and refine. This is the blessed hope; this is the power of the Gospel. So more than anything, as I speak on these things, this beautiful truth shall be in view.

So with that said…more later…(smile)

Grace and peace…

I think I took the lessons I was learning from Proverbs about silence to an extreme there for a while…or perhaps it was a necessary corrective from the Lord. But my mouth – and my computer keyboard – have been shut for a while now. Some may be quite happy about that…*sly grin*. But, I think I’m coming out of this season of silence, and prayerfully, better than I went into it.

I think what has kept my mouth shut for a while is that the direction I feel the Lord taking me made me nervous for a while. I feel so inadequate, and quite humbled by the things He has placed on my heart. But, the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear…

Soooo…I’m baaaack! )

More later…

Grace and peace…

I’m still being confronted with the subject of words and speech. This morning I read the following proverb:

Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding… (Prov. 14:33b) 

Here’s the trend I’m seeing as I read through the book of Proverbs this time around: Wisdom doesn’t say much. It doesn’t have to be heard. And when wisdom does speak, its words reflect the truth and character of the Lord.

Foolishness seems to always have something to say – and speaks much of the time before thinking.

Trusting in the Lord encourages silence. When you trust the Lord, you know He is in control. You don’t need to manipulate circumstances to achieve your own ends because you know that the Lord will provide what You need. You know His ways are infintely better than your own, and therefore you accept His will above your own. You can recognize your need for His help and guidance. You don’t feel the need to vindicate yourself because You know the Lord will reveal all that needs to be seen – including you own sin if necessary.

It is a sign of maturity to be able to hold your tongue – to be wise with your speech. James says that “if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man able to bridle his own body” (3:2). Our mouths can get us in a world of trouble – and I am speaking from experience here, unfortunately. What we say reveals what is in our hearts (Matt. 15:18). And, I’m sad to report, that much of what is in my heart is not very flattering. But, praise be to God – He is working to change my heart. And if He began the work, He will complete it!

No human being can tame the tongue – but with God all things are possible. May wisdom reign and rule in our hearts – and over our mouths! – today.

Grace and peace…

“Silence becomes you.” Sometimes the Lord will use someone to get in your face about something He is dealing with you about. This happened to me recently with these three simple words: Silence becomes you. God has been working on me about my constant and incessant desire to make my thoughts known, to express my opinion, when sometimes silence is the way of wisdom. I know that my use of words  in many instances can be for the sake of gaining control or seeking to move something in my desired direction. But the Lord is seeking to prune me of this controlling spirit - and when I am tempted to move ahead and speak my mind, especially when no one has even asked me what was on my mind, these words pop in my head.

Now, this does not mean that I will never speak again. What it does mean is that I must allow the Lord to examine my heart and purge me of those sinful thought patterns that give rise to my constant babbling. My increasingly judicious use of words will reflect a quiet, gentle sprit, a surrendered heart, and a peaceful soul – an inner life controlled by the Lord, and not my own agenda.

When considering whether we should speak or be silent, we should ask ourselves: What is my motive for speaking into this situation? Am I seeking to control the other person? The outcome? Am I seeking to vindicate myself? Am I seeking to pass judgment on someone or something? Will my use of words in a given situation bring honor and glory to the Lord? Or, will they serve to make myself look good, cast me in a positive light, or the other person in a negative one?

If we stop long enough to answer these questions, we may perhaps choose not to speak at all. A passage that the Lord led me to while thinking about this was Proverbs 10:19, “When words are many, transgression is not lacking; but he who restrains his lips is prudent.”

And here’s a classic: “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is deemed intelligent” (Proverbs 17:28). Ouch. Here’s another “ouch”: “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion” (Proverbs 18:2). How do you gain understanding? You have to be “slow to speak, quick to listen” (James 1:19). Oh, how much trouble I could avoid if I heeded this truth in every circumstance!

Lord, grant me the grace to grow!!

More later…

Grace and peace…

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

In my meditation and study of 1 John 3:1-3, I have read some pretty spectacular and thought provoking things. But what I read last night was so good, I just had to share. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is my new favorite author – I have learned so much from my reading of his works. I am currently reading through his book, Life in Christ: Studies in 1John, which is a collection of sermons he gave on the book of 1 John. I highly commend this book to you! You will be richly blessed by your reading.

I wanted to share one extended passage from his sermon on 1 John 3:3. In this sermon, Lloyd-Jones makes clear how the truth of verses 1 and 2 naturally flow to verse 3. If we believe all that has been presented by John about our blessed hope, the natural, reasonable response will be to purify ourselves, because He Himself is pure.

But I will let him speak, because I cannot say it any better than he has:

[W]e can put the teaching like this: If I really believe what the second verse has told me, if I really know that I am a child of God, with all that this means, if I believe and know that I am destined for eternal glory in the presence of God the Father, if I really believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return again, to be ‘manifested’ as John puts it, in this world as King of kings and Lord of lords, if I believe He is coming to judge the world and to destroy everything that is evil and vile out of the universe as a whole, if I believe that I am going to be with Him in glory, if furthermore I believe that I am going to see Him as He is, if I really believe that I am going to be like Him, that my very body shall be glorified and that I shall be faultless and blameless and spend eternity in His holy presence, if I really believe all that, says John, then of necessity, this must follow.

Amen.

Grace and peace…

Okay, back to my thoughts on “passionate pursuit”. I have been revisiting my meditation on 1 John 3:1-3, a passage the Lord has had on my heart for quite some time. I just finished reading D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ commentary about the first verse of chapter three, and a few thoughts come to mind.

 The first would be the distinction between calling us “children of God” versus “sons of God” in this passage. The term “son” refers more to a legal identity, whereas “child” carries a more familial, organic idea. He says, “We cannot be children of God if we are not like God; the child is like the parent, the offspring proclaims the parentage, and God in that way makes us His children. He puts His own nature into us, and we become His children, and that nature which is in God is in us, and it is acting and manifesting and expressing itself.”

 Our vision of salvation, I think, is too small.

 If our salvation means union with God through Christ, in which the very nature of God indwells us and changes us, we become something wholly different. The new creation that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 5 takes on greater meaning if we truly consider the ramifications of this. What Lloyd-Jones states earlier in this chapter captures this much better than I can: “Let us never again think of the Christian as just someone who is trying to live a good life, trying to be a little better than somebody else, a person with a belief in doing certain things, going through certain forms and ceremonials and keeping certain regulations dictated by the church. Christians do all that, but before all that is this vital fact that they are children of God.”

In other words, what we do comes forth from who we are. Our moral character is not the central point; our union with God in Christ is. This is the basis for everything else – including our character, our behavior, our practices, our deeds. We are like Him because we are born of Him; this is why James advances the idea that faith without works is dead. It is not that my works save me; but my works will show forth to Whom I belong. If I am truly born of God, my life with reflect this new reality. Albeit not perfectly, but the demeanor, the disposition of my heart – and by extension and in increasing measure my actions – will display the reality of this union.

To the extent that this truth becomes reality in my heart and mind, my life will reflect it. To the extent that I see the lavish nature of God’s love toward me, my heart will be melted with love and gratitude in return. We cannot fully understand our salvation until we understand our standing as children before God. And we cannot truly understand the enormity of this reality until we grasp the reality of our sin and the nature we possessed before Christ.

It is at this point where I am acutely aware that my words are too small. No words can capture this in all its richness. I pray the Lord’s help in illuminating my heart and mind that I might see it more clearly so that it will capture my very heart and captivate my soul. It is truly a marvel to consider how deep the Father’s love for us!

More later…

Grace and peace…

I am truly in “random” mode right now, flitting from one topic to another. Forgive me for my lack of consistency! You are just getting a peek into my mind…yes, it can be scary at times…pray for me, would ya? :o)

Anyway, I don’t even know where to begin. This topic I am about to revisit is huge and personal and touchy and something that I would rather forget. But it is something I am continually brought back to, and I guess I will not escape as long as I live in this skin I’m in.

The issue is race.

I have talked about this many times before, and most of the time I would rather not. But it is a point of contention in my heart – it is a deep soul ache that I cannot seem to soothe away easily. And so, I must engage this topic yet again. Pray for me.

I recently listened to a message that was first introduced to me about a year ago. It is a message that Thabiti Anyabwile gave at a T4G conference (for my summary and initial thoughts on this message, click here; for the message itself, click here). I won’t go into the reasons I searched out this message again; but I will walk through some of my thoughts, some of the things that this new hearing of the message has caused me to ponder.

Anyabwile’s primary thesis is this: the foundation of our worldview in terms of how we see ourselves and other people is deeply flawed and inadequate. Specifically speaking, the idea of race as biological difference does not in reality exist. Please hear clearly what he is not saying: he is not saying that the differences do not exist, but that our explanation of those differences doesn’t exist. And, most importantly for Christians, this foundation is built on an unbiblical set of assumptions that undermine the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, and could very well undermine the Gospel itself. For these reasons, we need to completely remove this rubric of race from our thinking and replace it with a more biblical set of assumptions about identity. The rubric he embraces is ethnicity, which includes such things as “language, nationality, citizenship, culture and perhaps religion”.  As I said the first time I talked about this message, I highly commend it to you – there is so much to this message I would be hard pressed to do it justice in this entry.

In his message, he expounds on the truth that our biological identity is rooted in Adam – we all share biological solidarity with Adam and Eve, our first parents. This reality is not rooted in the Fall, but in the creation of man, male and female, in the image of God. This is the foundation upon which our identity must be grounded. Because, although there are indeed difference across ethnicities, our shared identity as human beings made in the image of God is our unifying truth. For the Christian, this is more deeply expressed in our union in Christ, where God has created a new man, breaking down the wall between Jew and Gentile (of which all non-Jewish ethnicities belong by the way) and becoming our peace. The cultural identity of this new man is one of holiness and righteousness in Christ, as God works to conform us to the image of His Son. This is the basis of our unity, and our identity, and should determine and inform how we view our earthly identities of ethnicity/race.

I explain this at length because this message has had a profound effect on the way I think about race – and how much I desire to remove this distinction from my vocabulary and the way I see myself and others. As Anyabwile puts it, the “trajectory of race” does not lead to unity, because it exalts our differences instead of focusing on our common humanity. Race as biology is deeply personal, and any discussion or racial distinctions can be heard as an ad hominem attack on the person, leading to division.

I would have to say that I am a living example about how physical difference cannot be used to determine racial identity. Those who know me know that I am very fair-skinned. It’s not always evident what “race” I belong to just by looking at me. My biological makeup would include a host of difference “races”, although I am forced to identify with only one. What determines which is dominant? Cultural forces demand that I identify myself as Black, and I would never back away from that identity (and not for biological reasons, but cultural ones; I will discuss that in a later post). But is it a “racial” distinction? Is marking my identity in this very narrow view of race really helpful?

The bottom line? This idea of race as we understand it is distinctly American. It is completely foreign to biblical thought, and woefully inadequate in engaging all the different cultures and ethnicities that are represented in America today. Historically, race has been about Black and White – but more and more the ethnic makeup of America makes these categories way too constricting. Not to mention they leave no room to engage people of Native American, Hispanic or Asian descent, except to assign them their own “color” – Brown, Red, or Yellow and so forth. Trying to fit people in neat categories of racial distinction denies the richness of ethnic identity. I need to be clear here that I am not an advocate of “multiculturalism” as it is so popularly espoused on many liberal university campuses today. What I am trying to demonstrate is that this rubric of race is woefully inadequate in explaining the differences that are real across, and even within, ”races” as we commonly understand them – and it serves more as dividing lines than a point of unity.

Bringing this into the context of the body of Christ, what shall be our governing principle in defining who we are? I argue that our identity in Christ should trump our ethnic identity. Notice I did not say it should remove it – but it should govern how we view it. The way that race is defined creates a barrier for that. Because race is so rooted in personhood, the idea of asking a person to subordinate their racial identity to their identity in Christ can sound or feel like an attack on the individual, a swallowing or taking away of personhood instead of a liberating invitation into the new reality of who we are in Christ. How do we move past that?

I will not pretend to hold the keys to this aspect of the kingdom if you will, but I constantly wrestle with these thoughts, and they needed an outlet…so, here we go again… 

More to come…maybe on this topic, maybe something else. Who knows but the Lord…(sly grin)…

Grace and peace…

I just read a wonderful message on Revive our Hearts about womanhood and modesty. Here is a clip from the transcript:

A young girl walked past, and she was dressed very, very seductively. She was spilling out everywhere. She walked past, and it wasn’t just what she was wearing, it was the way she was walking. She kind of gave my son the eye. So I asked him, “What do you think, and what do you feel? Like, what do you think when you see a woman like that?” That’s a pretty daring question. I thought he might avoid it. And he said to me, “Mom, to be perfectly honest, she arouses the male in me, but she does not appeal to the man in me.” “That’s a good answer, sweetheart.”

Did you catch that? Do you see the difference? The “male” and the “man” are two different things. This young man set a distinction between being “male” and being a “man”…and the alluring appearance arouses one but not necessarily the other…interesting thought. It seems to me that it is quite easy to arouse the “male”, but appealing to the “man” is something totally different and much deeper.

Now, I’m not going to go about trying to tell men how to be men, for obvious reasons. I am not a man. But I do want to say something to my fellow women folk…we need to listen to what this young man is saying and think it through. Do I want to arouse a “male”, or do I want to appeal to a “man”? Before I go any further, I do need to state at the outset that my ultimate purpose is to live for Christ, not for man. But in the course of things, and in the context of male/female relationships, I need to ask myself that question. As a single woman relating to men – both single and married – what message am I seeking to convey? Am I being respectful to the man I am interacting with by being careful to not unnecessarily arouse the male in that man.

Please hear me clearly: I am not responsible for whatever a man chooses to do; but I am responsible for what I can do as far as it depends on me to encourage my brothers in Christ. And it is really not a matter of “limiting” my freedom in Christ; it is a call to love my brothers by doing what I can to not put a stumbling block in their path.

Too often when we as women read these kinds of things, we grate against them as if they are implying that we somehow are the keepers of men’s moral compass and are responsible for their moral behavior. Again, we are not. But we are responsible for our own. And there are too many mandates in scripture about modesty; about removing even the hint of sexual immorality; about purity for us to use this objection as our excuse. We are called to purity – irrespective of the response of anyone else. But in our seeking purity, we are called to care for the purity of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And let’s be honest ladies…sometimes we can complain and dog out a man for being “male”, when in actuality, that is all that we have really tapped into in the way we interact with them. Men are sinners (clue in: so are we…), and sometimes, it doesn’t really matter what we do or don’t do; they are just not going to act correctly. But, there are other cases where we can do things that encourage a wrong response, and if what we are doing appeals to that base nature the response will be sinful. But if we are seeking to honor that man as a human made in God’s image; and then, if that man is our brother in Christ as a fellow co-heir in Christ, the response will be much different.

Just something to think about…more later…

Grace and peace…