The Real Hope of the Resurrection

This past Sunday was Easter, the most important day of the year for Christians. It marks the day that Jesus rose from the dead, forever defeating death. While it doesn't get the press that Christmas does, it is certainly more important. For some perspective, if you take away the accounts of Jesus' birth, you lose about 4 chapters in the bible. But if you take away the death and resurrection of Jesus, you lose the entire meaning of the New Testament, in addition to the last 2000 years of history! Here are some things that we know about Jesus' resurrection, according to 1 Corinthians 15:1-11:

It is the most fundamental truth of the Christian faith (v. 1-3a). Paul is reminding them of the gospel - the good news that God has graciously saved sinners. The resurrection is of "first importance."

It is upholds the truth of the bible (v. 3b-4). Everything about the Jesus' death, burial, & resurrection is supported by scripture. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 speak most directly to Jesus as the "suffering servant." Psalm 16:9-10 echoes the resurrection. But a deeper echo of the resurrection I believe is found in Genesis 1-2 where we see God as Creator. For what does God create? He creates life, not death, which led Jesus to teach himself on the resurrection in light of God being "The God of the living" (Mark 12:26-27). Interestingly, the Jews didn't expect the Messiah to resurrect. They only believed in a corporate resurrection, not an individual one. So when Jesus resurrected, that actually cemented his claim as the True Messiah in a day when there were many so-called "messiahs' who would get caught & killed...and stay dead.

It is an historical fact (v. 5-8). There were hundreds of witnesses that Paul mentions here that he is begging the Corinthians to talk to in order to check out his story about Jesus. 1 Corinthians (along with Philippians and Colossians which contain some early creedal hymns about Jesus' deity) predates the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, & Luke by a decade and John by two decades. 1 Corinthians was a public document meant to be distributed and read. By going so public with Jesus' resurrection, it underlines the truth of the event. And, there is simply no other way to explain the transformation of people's lives, the explosive growth of the church, and the impact on the history of mankind if the resurrection never happened.

The core of the resurrection is grace (v. 9-11). At the heart of the resurrection is a loving God who did what we were unable to: rescue us from our sin. Sin leaves us powerless. We can't work hard enough, do enough good things, serve or give enough, be kind enough, etc to be connected to God and have the promise of heaven. So God decided out of love to show his lost children grace - giving them a blessing they did nothing to deserve. Jesus took all of our punishment and penalty for sin on the cross and then defeated death by his resurrection. That grace is what then motivates us to work, give, serve, and do good. All we're asked to do is believe it (v. 11).

I pray that you believe the truth of Jesus' resurrection. Because if (or should I say since) the resurrection is true, then everything changes. You can have real hope. You can have real healing. You can experience true transformation. If you do not have this faith in Jesus, or if your faith is struggling, all you need to do is ask God to give you faith to trust in His grace that He gave us in Jesus through his death, burial, & resurrection - the fundamental truth of the Christian faith.

Killing the Religious Idol

The last post dealt with the types and symptoms of religious idolatry. I want to be clear that I don't believe that religion in and of itself is bad. Religion can be a good and beautiful thing, as long as it's kept in its proper context. Formal religion (liturgies, creeds, systems, structures, denominations, etc) is simply a tool to help us know Jesus and grow in our faith. We are finite, linear creatures that need structure, even in our spirituality - thus, religion comes into play. God himself is the author of this, when he first gave Moses the law.

But where everything gets jacked up is when people put too much stock into the form of religion and not the object of religion, namely Jesus. The result is a heavy, weighed down, performance-driven life that doesn't free people to love God, but enslaves people and puts fear into them, because if they don't "do things right", they will no longer be acceptable to God (nor the religious community).

How can this religious idol be killed? The answer is one word: faith.

We see this in verses 13-14 of 1 Corinthians 10. Verse 13 is an oft-quoted verse about being able to get out of a sticky situation where you'll be tempted to sin. But what we need to keep in mind is the context of the verse. Paul exposes the religious idol in verses 1-12, and then writes the refrain in verse 14 "Therefore my beloved, flee from idolatry." The context is of utmost importance.

Here's what's going on, I believe: at the heart of religion is our efforts to be acceptable to God and be about his work. It's basically what we "do." And I will propose that this is the default of the human heart, particularly in American culture. If we want something done, we need to do ourselves. We believe that if we work hard enough, we can accomplish anything. People really, really believe these statement. And since they really, really believe them, they really don't need God to do anything for them. They can do it themselves. Enter the religious idol. The "temptation common to man" is the temptation to depend on moralistic, legalistic, religious effort and performance to be acceptable to God.

The point of verse 13 is that we may be able to endure the temptation (or "testing", which is the root word). If we always had a tangible "escape" from all testing, the result would be an extremely weak faith. Think of it like lifting weights. You strain (or test) your muscles in order for them to grow and get stronger. Same with your faith. The only way for your faith to grow is for it to be tested. And every time you are able to endure a testing of your faith, you can endure a greater testing the next time. And what's more, as a Christian you have the ability to endure any temptation. Why? Because as a Christian you have the Holy Spirit - God Himself - dwelling inside of you. And nothing is too great for God!

So what is the way of escape then? It's the exercising of your faith. Sometimes the "escape" we need is simply to wait on God and let Him be God. When you find yourself in an apparently overwhelming situation, don't look to act right away; pray and wait on Jesus. (what I don't mean is intentionally putting yourself in a sinful situation - sometime you do need to flee like Joseph did from Potiphar's wife; I'm just saying that's not exactly what this particular passage is talking about). But if you try to do God's job for him simply because you refuse to wait on Him, then you will fall into religious idolatry; just like the Israelites did with the golden calf in Exodus 32 (they stopped waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain, so they took things into their own hands, and paid a dear price for their idolatry).

So in order to fully kill the religious idol, we must first keep religion in its proper place and remember that it is a tool to help us connect to God and grow in Him. Secondly, we must exercise faith in Jesus when we feel tempted to simply get something done on our own. We need to remind ourselves that through our faith in Jesus and his finished work on the cross, are we fully accepted by God. And as we wait upon the Lord, we will find our faith strengthened and will experience a very real reality of God in our lives, and will experience much joy and give much glory to God.

Types & Symptoms of Religious Idolatry

I've been preaching the last month on idolatry from 1 Corinthians 8-10. The basic understanding of what idolatry is comes from Romans 1:25, where creation is loved more than the Creator, of the gifts are loved more than the Giver. Idolatry is basically taking good things that God gives us (creation, family, relationships, position, possessions, etc) and loving them more than God by finding our value & identity in those things.

One of the more difficult idolatries to identify is the religious one. Why? Because it's the God-stuff! The very tools that we use to worship and grow closer to God can be the very things that get valued more than God Himself. This is what Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 10:1-14. All too easily can we lean on our religious traditions, liturgies, leadership, practices, & programs to functionally "save us". What I'd like to now is simply identify the types of religious idolatry and the symptoms people may possess that may expose their religious idolatry.

Types of Religious Idolatry:

• Rightness of Doctrine. This is when you love your particular theological system or tradition more than Jesus.
• Spiritual Gifts. This is when your faith is more fixed on experience and manifestations of spiritual gifts more than it is fixed on Jesus.
• Ministry Success. This is when your worth and value is more placed in program attendance, quality of production, number of decisions, or ministries started or overseen than in Jesus.
• Leadership. This is when your allegiance is more with a particular pastor, author, or theologian that Jesus.
• Moral Living. This is when your acceptance is based on your religious activity or general morality (particularly in avoiding the "wrong" places, people, and activities) than in Jesus.

Symptoms of Religious Idolatry

• Unresolvable guilt…always letting God or yourself down
• Condemned…live in light of punishment
• Need to stay busy…rest=not earning your keep
• Defensive…forced to justify positions or actions
• Angered easily…too much pressure on you, thin skin
• Lack of assurance if God loves you… “what if’s” and “buts" fill your speech
• Dry prayer life…no motivation or connection
• Dry scripture reading…don’t want to; text is lifeless; full of rules
• No joy (or fake joy)…Christianity is a chore, not a blessing
• Control freak…No freedom; Christianity has enslaved you, not freed you

Later this week we'll finish up this with how to kill the idol of religion.

Marriage & Sex

No matter what the running joke in our culture may be, marriage is not to be the end of your sex life...it is designed to be the beginning! Biblical marriage is the God-ordained environment where a man and a woman can fully enjoy each other and express their love to each other. Sex is designed to serve marriage through a number of ways:

• Sex enriches a marriage. It's one of the main things that makes a marriage enjoyable. The frequency of spouses' sexual intimacy directly correlates to their overall marital health.
• Sex encourages spiritual growth. At it's root, sex is a physical expression of a spiritual need for union. And (ideally) your spouse was your brother or sister in Christ before he/she was your spouse. So sexual intimacy actually helps your spouse grow spiritually.
• Sex strengthens oneness. Sexual intimacy is an illustration - a literal physical reminder - of the emotional & spiritual oneness that a couple has.
• Sex allows spouses to enjoy each other. Sex feels good because God designed it to be so! He wants married couples to enjoy each other.
• Sex glorifies a marriage. Sex is supposed to be a team sport. It is supposed to love, serve, and bring pleasure to another, not just yourself. Sex celebrates the relationship.

With all this in mind, 1 Corinthians 7:1-5 speak of the importance of sex in marriage. Sex is supposed to be exclusive & monogamous and teach us humility (as each spouse "owns" the other). And since spouses are not to "deprive" one another, sex in marriage should be free and frequent!

But are there times when spouses should abstain from sexual intimacy? Yes. Perhaps times of emotional stress & overload, physical injury or illness, travel schedules, or the immediate time after pregnancy are all viable times. But in 1 Corinthians 7:5, there are clear guidelines to adhere to:

• Both spouses agree to it. This should be a harmonious decision. Abstaining because of conflict, selfishness, or manipulation is sin.
• It should be for a limited time. Don't leave it open-ended, make a plan for how long it will last.
• Devote to prayer during the time of abstaining. Like fasting from anything else, the time needs to be used for spiritual growth, seeking direction & wisdom, combating selfishness, and learning to more fully to depend on God and united with Him.
• Come together again. Plan the reunion! Celebrate your love & growth!

There is also a caution at the end of verse 5. If the practice of sexual intimacy or the abstaining from sexual intimacy is happening with the wrong motivation, it leaves a door open to Satan to tear the marriage down through things like anger, bitterness, and adultery (any sexual gratification outside of your spouse).

Marriage is God's only plan for people to have "good sex." Hebrews 13:4 says "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled."

Biblical Marriage

There's lots of debate on marriage these days. Even though the permanency of marriage isn't valued very much, most people will get married. So what does the bible say about marriage? Here's few quick bullet points:

• It is not good to be alone (unmarried) (Genesis 2:18)
• We are made to marry (Matthew 19:4-6)
• Marriage is honorable (Hebrews 13:4)
• Prohibiting marriage is demonic (1 Timothy 4:1-3)
• Finding a wife is finding a good thing (Proverbs 18:22)
• Married people make the most ideal leaders (1 Timothy 3:1-12)

The bible is a very "pro-marriage" book because God is a "pro-marriage" God. Marriage is God's idea and creation for our good and His glory. Biblical marriage is a covenant - a God-ordained special promise that is witnessed, ratified, consummated, and remembered. Because of this, marriage is to be honored, respected, treated with dignity, and not gone into lightly.

We then have to ask what the purpose of marriage is. The best place to go to is Ephesians 5:31-32. The Apostle Paul makes a clear connection between marriage and Christ's relationship with the Church. CJ Mahaney defines the purpose of marriage as this: "Marriage between a man and a woman is meant to reflect the relationship between Christ and the Church.” This means two main things:

• Marriage is to be God-centered. Marriage should not be centered on a spouse, a child, or a perceived need (comfort, sexual fulfillment, possessions, lifestyle).
• Marriage is not about our happiness, but is for our holiness. No other relationship will confront selfishness and idolatry like marriage does. God's intention is for the marriage relationship to make his followers more holy and like His Son Jesus.

But what about things like romance, love, and sex? Where do they fit into the marriage conversation? Those things are very important! God gave us an entire book in the bible called The Song of Solomon to illustrate how important love, romance, and sex are in a marriage. But those are just not ultimate things about marriage. Marriage is "deep waters". And only when the "deep waters" of marriage are begun to be understood should a man and a woman humbly enter such a wonderful, sacred relationship.

Next up: Sex & Marriage

The Benefits of Gospel Relationships

So everybody always wants to know, "what I am going to get out of it?" That's not a bad question. It's not a primary question, especially when it comes to community, because it is quite a selfish question. But there is a reality to it.

In 1 Corinthians 16:5-12, Paul end this section in talking specifically about the benefits we do get to enjoy by God's grace when it comes to gospel relationships.

First, there is the benefit of opportunity. Specifically, ministry opportunity. Participating in someone's life getting transformed by the gospel is simply a great joy. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus. The account of his ministry there is in Acts 19-20. Upon arriving at Ephesus, he 12 guys that immediately responded to the gospel and began to work with him. Through their collective effort (because ministry is always a group project), they saw lots of great opportunity and response to the gospel.

A second benefit is that you never have to face adversity alone. The truth is, whenever there is great opportunity, there is always great diversity. Here are four big adversities that Paul faced, along with his ministry partners:

• Demonic adversity - Acts 19:11-16
• Cultural idols - Acts 19:23-41
• Religious adversity - Acts 20:19
• Personal idols - Acts 20:29-30

Life is hard. Life as a Christian is harder. Life as a Christian leader is even harder still. But going through it with others makes it better.

The last benefit that Paul touches on is enjoying the love and encouragement of others. In the 1 Corinthians 16:10-12, Paul talks about how the church should receive Timothy, Paul's main disciple, ministry partner, and future pastor of the church in Ephesus. While we all need love and encouragement, this is directly specifically to a church leader. Here's what Paul outlines:

• "Put him at ease" - it's hard to be a pastor or leader, you're always 'on' and have expectations
• "Let no one despise him" - pastors & leaders often have to say hard things to people for their good that aren't always received well
• "Help him on his way in peace" - ministry is never done, and it's difficult to find contentment in a pastor's/leader's work

We all need the benefits of gospel relationships, whether we're pastors, leaders, workers, members, or Joe-pew-sitter (actually, Joe needs to get off his butt and start doing something). There is great opportunity out there as we labor for the gospel together, that will also bring with it much adversity, so we all need to be loving and encouraging each other with the grace & mercy of Jesus.

Practicing Gospel Relationships

In taking a close look at 1 Corinthians 16:5-8, we get a picture of how Paul practiced having gospel relationships.

The first thing we see is that Paul was intentional. He knew that having gospel relationships didn't just happen anymore than getting a spouse just happens, picking up a paycheck from a job just happens, or getting a college degree just happens. It all demands effort and intentionality. Paul planned to see the people in Corinth...he made an intentional effort to be with them. And not just to be with them, but to invite them on mission with him... "so that you may help me on my journey" (v. 6). Gospel relationships always include being on mission together for the gospel.

The second thing we see is that Paul created time margin. He had no desire to go through Corinth "in passing" but rather wanted to "spend some time" (v. 7). This really rubs our American culture! We're a drive-by, drive-through, microwave, Starbucks Via kind of culture. We value burning the candle on both ends and in the middle. But that does not allow gospel relationships to foster. You have to aggressively create margin in your life for relationships to flourish.

The third thing we see is that Paul lived in rhythm. He talks a lot about seasons and holidays (Pentecost - v. 8) to order his life. Rhythms are important to us. God gave us the gift of time and the Sabbath to help us order our finite lives around for our benefit. Having daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly rhythms allow people to be healthy physically, spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. Saying you're a "spontaneous" person is just a nice way of saying that you're chaotic, lack self-control, and are ineffective. Developing and living in rhythms don't enslave you at all; rather, they free you!

So in an effort to live out gospel relationships, take some cues from Paul and be intentional, create some margin in your life, and develop some rhythms.

Next up: The Benefits of Gospel Relationships

What are Gospel Relationships?

Have you ever wrestled with the question (as Christians), why are we here? Not individually, but corporately. What is the purpose of this community called the church?

Many times, the answer comes from bible verses like Genesis 2:18 (it's not good for man to be alone), or Psalm 133:1 (good for brothers to dwell in unity), or Proverbs 27:17 (iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another). While all these things are fully true, to simply define the purpose of community as a cure to my loneliness, my need for camaraderie, or my personal growth is just shallow and selfish (notice all the "my's"). Don't you think God wants something deeper and bigger for his church?

Of course he does. One passage we can look to is 1 Peter 2:9. We see that God has indeed made for himself a people, and that his people are to proclaim the excellencies of God. So what we see right away is that community is first and foremost God's (not ours) and that the purpose of community is to share the gospel. I think this is the point to where the best descriptor of community is "gospel relationships." Looking at community through a gospel lens points us vertically toward God and horizontally out to people, not for the purpose of getting our needs met, but giving the gospel to those who need it.

But what about the real needs that you and I have? This is where it gets beautiful. When we fully live for God's glory and live on mission for the gospel, along the way our needs get met. Our loneliness is cured as we are on mission with other. Our camaraderie is met as we have a deep common goal. Our personal growth happens as others sharpen and encourage us along the journey. It truly is the best of both worlds!

Community - gospel relationships - are interconnected to mission. You can't fully have community without mission, and you can't fully have mission without community. This is what we see littered all throughout scripture, in particular the new testament. People on mission together in community enjoying God Himself and the benefits of each other.

Next up: Practicing Gospel Relationships

Haiti Earthquake Relief

Here's an email I just sent out to the members of Delta Church regarding relief for Haiti:

Dear Delta,

As you all certainly know, a terrible 7.0 earthquake occurred in Haiti on Tuesday afternoon. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and upwards of 1 million people are homeless. 80% of Haiti's population lives below the poverty line, which makes them the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. By their own admission, they are no where near equipped to handle a disaster like this and are in need of tangible help. Please pray fervently for the people of Haiti and the relief workers. But beyond that, financial gifts are necessary to fund the relief efforts - everything from food, search & rescue, etc. Here are 5 tremendous organizations that you can send a financial gift to (even a small micro-gift of $10 will go a long way):

Baptist Global Response

http://www.baptistglobalresponse.com/new/giving.php

The Red Cross

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.94aae335470e233f6cf911df43181aa0/?vgnextoid=15c0c5a210826210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

World Vision

http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10324

Samaritan's Purse

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Relief_and_Development/Emergency_Relief/

Compassion International

https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/disasterrelief.htm?referer=105910

Additionally, let me emphasize this as well: this is in no way any type of "judgment" from God punishing people. There are misinformed, arrogant, judgmental, non-gospel centered religious people who are saying and believing such things. Do not believe them. Romans 8:22 says "For we we know that the whole creation has been groaning..." The context is the suffering that this life brings because of the terrible effects of sin. The fall (Genesis 3) not only brought death to people, but to all of creation as well. An event like this earthquake is a stark reminder of the brokenness of the world and great need we have for the hope of the gospel to renew not just us, but all of creation. So let us be a people of prayer, a people on mission for the gospel, and a people who do what we can to renew this creation and bring comfort to those who are hurting for the glory of Jesus.

Pastor Ryan, on behalf of the Delta Elders

"Be Generous" Wordle

"Wordle" is a fun website that makes word pictures. It recognizes the most common words in a document and creates a design with the words. The words most repeated get the larger font size. I like to do this every now and then with my sermon transcripts just to make sure that Jesus gets top billing in my sermon. This is this past week's Wordle from my "Be Generous" sermon from 1 Corinthians 16:1-4.

Greed, Generosity, & the Gospel

I know very few people who aren't greedy. Greed is a such a widespread epidemic it's hard to see sometimes. Also, because only the grossly greedy get the attention, it's easy to think of yourself as not greedy; or least, not as greedy as "that guy." But when it comes to money, possessions, and lifestyle, do you find yourself seeking to acquire more, being stingy with what you do have, being overly anxious, being fixated on the bottom line, or living as a workaholic to achieve or maintain a perceived "successful" lifestyle? If so, greed has got you.

The problem with greed boils down to trust. There is a misplaced trust in money, stuff, and a way of living that is supposed to provide a sense of comfort and security. And even deeper still, it's a very selfish problem as the only comfort and security you're worried about is your own, not really anybody else's. A life marked by greed will end up being destroyed. A constant personal dissatisfaction and discontentment will make you miserable, and if anything bad happens to your bank account, your whole sense of self is lost. Relationally you'll end up alone. People at best will use you (if your greed has equated in some type of prosperity) and at worst people will hate you and avoid you (because you only care about yourself and no one else).

How can you get rid of greed? You have to root it out and replace it. You must replace it with generosity. A generous person genuinely seeks the welfare of others first, gives as much as they can, and most importantly, has their trust rightly placed. This rightly placed trust is actually the way you root out greed, and the way you do that is by believing the gospel of Jesus.

Jesus, who is God, was ultimately generous. He left his throne in heaven, totally humbled himself out of love, and gave up everything so we could have everything. Tim Keller writes that "if he stayed rich, we would die poor; but if he died poor, we could become rich." Paul writes of Jesus' generosity and ties it directly to financial giving (being generous) in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9 and 2 Corinthians 9:12-15. As we live worshipful, generous lives, that must express itself in how we use the money that God has blessed us with (since all the money in the world is his anyway - Haggai 2:8).

So they key to getting over your greed is not just to try harder to be more giving, but instead to place your trust in Jesus, who gave up everything and gives everything to those who love him back.

Transforming in 2010

It's been officially 2 months since I've posted anything here. *sigh*

I've been pondering how 2010 needs to be a year of transformation in many ways in my life, my family, and my church. The biggest points of transformation needed I feel are the following: our view of self, our view of others, and our view of situations & circumstances. Let me expound just a bit:

• View of Self. One of the biggest lies of our pop-psychology happy culture is the need for greater "self-esteem" or "self-worth." This is totally unbiblical and destructive. Left to myself, I'm sinful - totally and completely sinful. Why would I want that greater in my life? As a Christian, what I need is greater "Christ-esteem." Colossians 3:3-4 clearly state that as a Christian, my life is hidden in Jesus and that He is my life. I need "me" to continue to die and for Jesus to live more and more. Only by embracing this truth will my thoughts, actions, words, and attitudes by changed.

• View of Others. One thing I need to get clear as well (in light of the first point) is to view others properly, especially other Christians. Their lives are Christ as well, and so according to 2 Corinthians 5:16, I must not regard them according to their flesh. This allows me to be free to love, forgive, and pray for other Christians fully confident that the Holy Spirit within them will convict and lead them to truth, and I get to enjoy encouraging them. Now, conversely this also means to view non-Christians as non-Christians and not expect Christian attitudes, affections, or actions from them. I get to freely love them as well and extend to them the grace & mercy they need to experience.

• View of Circumstances. Colossians 3:2 says to set our minds on things above. I cannot allow my present situation, circumstances, or earthly heartaches to determine how I react. Tim Lane and Paul Tripp, in their book "How People Change" write, 'There is always something bigger than the heartache of the moment." They are talking about the eternal promises of God embodied and given to us in the gospel. This trumps everything and transforms my response to every circumstance in my life.

Now, to be able to be transformed, it takes a submission to the Holy Spirit and submission & transparency to the church community so they can confront & encourage as needed. I pray that 2010 finds much transformation in my life and yours.

May grace be with you.

Progressing in Godliness

I couple times a month I get together with some young, emerging leaders at Delta to do some leadership development training. One of our meetings is a late night one at a local pub where we just open the scriptures and read and work through the pastoral epistles (1 & 2 Timothy & Titus). Last night we were in 1 Timothy 4 and we began talking about godliness and how you can "track" your progress in godliness (see 1 Timothy 4:15). It was good discussion and discovery and though it would be good to share here.

First, we need to define "godliness." What does that mean? In keeping with the theme of 1 Timothy 4, I think one good simple definition of godliness is "making our doctrine visible by living like Jesus." Paul talks much about the need for Jesus-centered doctrine. To Paul, there are two types of teachers: false ones and gospel-centered ones. False ones teach lies based on their own preferences, need for control & power, and fear of man. Gospel-centered ones talk about Jesus...all the time. So when we talk about godliness, we must remember that the "goal" is Jesus Himself. We are to be holy as he is holy and as God's children, we are to become like Him. So godliness must mean that as we live our lives as Christ-followers, we must begin to respond to life (thoughts, words, actions, & attitudes) just like Jesus did.

But, how do we measure our progress in that? Just how do we watch ourselves? It can't be through the spiritual disciplines or ministry involvement. If we use those good things as "benchmarks" we've just become religion-centered and ceased to be gospel-centered. Those things need to be kept in the proper perspective as "tools" to become more like Jesus.

Here's how I think we watch & measure our progression in godliness: we think of ourselves less. I think it's all about humility. This is what the Lord requires of us in Micah 6:8. This should be our response to the work of Jesus in our lives according to Romans 11:20. This is what we are called to in becoming like Jesus in Philippians 2:3-8. Isn't this what faith requires in the first place? To put our "faith, hope, & love" in Jesus and Jesus alone, we must admit that we're not God, that our pride is not good, and we must humbly admit that we have a need for Savior to rescue us from ourselves and our sin. Sin, by definition, is pride. For when we sin, we are telling God that we can do things on our own and don't need Him or His rules or design.

So here are some practical questions to ask yourself to track your growth in godliness:

• Do I think more about Jesus today than I did a six months or a year ago?
• Am I trying to filter everything through the lens of the gospel?
• Do I enjoy serving other people more today?
• Do I cheerfully give?
• Am I more willing to be flexible with my time so I can serve others?
• Am I quicker to repent when I sin?
• Am I quicker to forgive when I'm sinned against?

Progressing in godliness is not "microwave" - you can't track it by minutes or days or weeks. Progressing in godliness is more like a "crock pot" - you need months, seasons, and years to see growth (or lack of growth). It takes time, training, intentionality, hard work, honesty, transparency, accountability, and encouragement. It's also a community project. You can't grow on your own. People must speak into your life.

Praying for you progress (and mine)...

Ryan

Delta's Upcoming Men's Retreat

On October 23-24, the Delta men are heading out of town to study the life of David and learn about being men of passion. Our men's ministry leader, John, put together a hilarious promo video to motivate guys to show up.

Cleaning Up a Jacked Up Church Preview

When we think of the early church in the first century, we usually get these warm fuzzy feelings about community, love, how they shared their stuff, how God pulled off crazy miracles, and how people came to know Jesus by the thousands.

Not Corinth. Corinth was a jacked up church.

The church in Corinth was small, maybe 50ish people. And this small community was marked by division, by being more influenced by culture than influencing culture, by being proud of their sexual sin, by chaotic worship gatherings, by drunkenness at communion, by greed, and by bringing lawsuits against each other. So, God speaks through Paul, who planted the church, to speak the gospel into the church to clean up the mess the church was in.

No matter where you’re at spiritually: a skeptic, an investigator, a new believer, or a seasoned Christ-follower, 1^st Corinthians is a book that will speak deeply into your life. Because the truth is, we’re all jacked up and need Jesus to clean us up.

Movement Recap

Yesterday we finished up our series called "Movement" which outlined the framework for the life of Delta. Here are the highlights:

• "We are the church." This was the umbrella statement for the whole series. Like 1 Peter 2:9 and Acts 2:42-47 reveal to us, "church" is an identity, not a destination.

• The "Upward" Movement. "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." This is the famous first confession of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and describes Delta's first movement: Glorifying God. John 17:1-5 shows us that glorifying God is God's main concern about Himself, and was Jesus' main concern while on earth. Everything about our lives personally and corporately must be filtered with God getting glory, and not us. This is most publically seen in our weekly Worship Gatherings.

• The "Amongst" Movement. "True community is created, defined and driven by the Gospel." This is the key phrase for Delta's second movement: gospel communities. We unpacked how Delta is in fact a "community of communities." The Community Groups of Delta are practically people's "immediate church", for in those environments is where everyday care, encouragement, connection, growth, learning, discipline, and mission happen. John 17:6-19 show us Jesus' plan for the community that He created.

• The "Outward" Movement. "Ordinary life lived with gospel intentionality." When we talk about the third movement - engaging culture - we talking about living missionally. And this mean not trying hard to be "cool" or "hip" but simply going about your regular everyday activities with purpose - to bring those outside of your gospel community inside your gospel community. Jesus clearly laid out his desire for this to happen in John 17:18-26. And this is not to be done solo, but in community - Jesus never once in his prayer in John 17 prayed for an individual, but always for community; for it is in community that mission is most strong.

To listen to the sermons from the "Movement" series, subscribe to Delta's podcast on iTunes.

Verses for the World to Read

I realize that I am probably one of only 5 people who read the Faith & Religion section of the Sunday paper. Most of the time the articles aren't worth my energy to turn the page because they are so bland, and by necessity (being the newspaper) universalistic. But the feature this last week seemed very interesting to me, but I was left extremely sad.

The feature was about local religious leaders' favorite passages of scripture. It wasn't focused on Christian leaders, for the local Muslim and Christian Science leaders were included also...and that's OK. But what I was hoping to read from the Christian ones was a brief synopsis of the gospel. I mean, come on, the newspaper is calling you and asking you for a verse that could be read by potentially thousands of people (well, at least 5)! Make it count! They were even given a couple sentences to follow up their choice. But do you know what the vast majority of the verses were about? They were the "feel good" verses about God, you know, the ones about Him never leaving us, giving us strength, love people and be unified. Now hear me, all scripture is God's Word and inspired and worth more than any human wisdom could ever muster. But my point is, when you have the opportunity, share a passage that talks about God's plan in saving us through Jesus, you know - the gospel. It made me smile that the one who hit it most on the head with the opportunity was my favorite public access pastor who plays the ukulele. He shared Acts 2:38 - that we need to Jesus to save us and we need to believe in Him - and briefly said how that verse changed his life. Well, done Pastor Hart!

In a day and age where universalism and relativism grow in strength, when we as Christ-followers get a chance to go very public with Jesus, we need to take full opportunity and do so. Much like when my friend Pastor Mark Driscoll got invited to preach at the Crystal Cathedral. You probably can't find two churches that are more different regarding certain theology, philosophy, and ecclesiology, but Mark saw it as an opportunity to preach to MILLIONS about the gospel. So he did. You can watch that here.

Paul encourages us to "make the most of our time" in Ephesians 5:16, and Peter tells us to "always be prepared to give an answer" about Jesus when asked in 1 Peter 3:15. And remember that Jesus Himself called those who follow Him a "city on a hill" in Matthew 5:14. We need to stand up and stand out, gently lighting the way for people to Jesus specifically, not just some different "religious" alternative.

You may be wondering what my favorite verse is that I'd like to share with the world, at least my wife did when I was talking with her about this. Mine would be John 19:30, which record Jesus' last words before he died on the cross: "It is finished." I want people to know that it's not their efforts or morality that make them right with God, it is only the work that Jesus has done and we just need to trust Him.

The full SJ-R feature can be found here.

Imitating Demons

First off, I am NOT advocating any type of demon of Satan worship...just so we're clear on that!

When I was on my Sabbath, I read the Gospel of Mark a number of times. One thing that jumped out to me was how most people didn't listen and obey Jesus. People that he healed and he told to not say anything went off and ran their mouths. And the disciples themselves were the thickest-headed group of guys that I've ever seen.

But guess who ALWAYS respected and immediately obeyed Jesus 100% of the time? Yup, demons.

Here are the accounts in Mark of Jesus casting out demons from people: Mark 1:21-28; 1:39; 3:11-12; 5:1-20; and 9:14-29. We commonly see demons recognizing Jesus for who he is (for remember, Jesus created them as angels before they fell from heaven) and falling down before him and begging for mercy (interesting that they know he is merciful!) because they understand that Jesus is God and has complete authority. And when Jesus commands them, they obey. Without question.

So, what can we learn from demons? We can learn that we need to honor and respect the authority of Jesus. We can learn that when Jesus gives us a command (to love, to be his witnesses, to serve the poor, etc) we need to obey it, that there's really no option not to.

May we all honor Jesus more and obey him fully!

You need to stop talking so much

I've just returned from a week-long sabbath. I left "really important" things like my laptop and iPhone at home, and headed west toward the mountains armed with not much more than my bible and a journal. One of the biggest things that God showed me through the silence that I dove into was that I use too many words in general and too many words that promote me rather than promote him.

Jesus said in John 14 that the words he spoke came from the Father. Psalm 19 humbly asks that the words of our mouths be acceptable in the sight of God. After being silent for a week, I realized that too often that I use my words to promote myself in some way (sounding smart, wise, funny, etc.) and not often enough do I use my words to encourage people to God.

I think that the only way to allow God's words to fill our hearts so that when we speak, we speak words that he wants us to, is to certainly fill up on his word, but also intentionally refrain from using words as flippantly as we do. This includes speaking for sure, but also includes things like Facebook, Twitter, and basic idle chatter. Not that there's anything wrong with a conversation about sports or a movie, or updating your status or sending out a tweet. But we need to ask ourselves what the purpose of our words are. Are we promoting ourselves or promoting God?

We all need to stop talking so much and start listening to God and others more.

Living a Gospel Life

What is it about a person who is really living out the gospel? What is it about them that's so different? It can't be things like knowledge or behavior, for those things just reek of pride and moralism. In Galatians 6:1-10, Paul describes for us what a gospel life looks like. And what Paul does for us is to show us that if the gospel is indeed alive and growing in us, it will be most evident in how we relate to people.

In verses 1-5 of Galatians 6, we are shown what gospel community looks like. Those who are mature in the gospel help guide those who are not and restore those ensnared in sin in a loving and gentle way. We are to help each other in practical ways when life brings us a season that is harder than usual. And, we are to live humbly as we fulfill those responsibilities that are ours alone, and encourage and empower others to do the same.

In verses 6-10, Paul continues his instructions on living out the gospel (still under the umbrella of community). He particularly points out the relationship between teachers & students to be a reciprocal relationship of generosity both relationally and financially (the term "good things" is most certainly a euphemism for giving). Paul then "lays down the gauntlet" and says that if you really want to reap the blessings that God has to offer, you must sow the things that God has ordained (think fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23). To not "sow" intentionally what God has ordained yet still expect his blessings is lying to yourself and mocking God. We can't live however we want in our relationships, with our money, or in any other way and still enjoy heaven. It's God's way or no way - it's either Spirit or flesh. Paul then encourages us that we need to be patient. Reaping the things of God doesn't happen overnight...but as we remain faithful and strong in Jesus, we are promised that "in due season we will reap."

Paul ends this great passage with one last encouragement, kind of like a coach in the locker room before the players hit the field. We are to "do good" (in all ways: relationally, financially, serving, etc.) to everyone, and in particular to those who are Christians (especially those in your own church or community group). Why emphasize the "household of faith"? Because of what Jesus Himself said: "They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another" (John 13:35).

This "gospel life" is be lived at every opportunity! Not just when we have time or can squeeze it in. The time to love someone in need is when there is someone in need. It's that simple. We just need to intentionally order our lives so we have the room to love people. Just like Jesus.