How Faith Fights Sin

This past Sunday at Meadowview we introduced our 2023 theme - "Increase Our Faith". Throughout the year we will be focusing on several general aspects of the Christian life and some specific aspects of the Meadowview life in which we need  greater faith. 

As followers of Jesus we know faith is important - crucial for our salvation. Sunday we read several passages that teach the necessity of faith (belief, trust) in Christ. 

So we know that faith in Christ is necessary for our justification,  but how does faith help us fight sin in our day to day lives? How does faith help us make progress in our sanctification? 

To answer I invite you to consider these verse from Romans 6:5-14:

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 

¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

It is our ongoing faith in the gospel that enables and empowers us to use our lives for righteousness rather than unrighteousness. These verses challenge us to develop a faith (by the grace of God) that "knows" and "considers" the truths of our union with Christ to be true; a faith that believes that when Jesus died so did the dominion of sin in my life; a faith that trusts because Jesus rose from the dead I am now fully alive to God in him. 

When sin seems to have the upper-hand in your life, spend some time meditating on Romans 6:5-14 and plead with the Lord to "increase your faith". 

The Richness of Colossians 3 and Life in Christ

Over the past two days my Bible reading plan has had me working through Colossians 3 and I am freshly  overwhelmed with the richness of the text. 

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

(5) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

(12) Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This is the difference that Christ can make in a persons life. This is the difference Christ is making in my life (although my sinful stubbornness slows this process down). The gospel is powerful. We must zealously and boldly invite others to experience the richness of life in Christ.  

The Agony of Discipleship

This morning I was encouraged by Paul's heart for the Colossians and Laodiceans.  

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ... (Colossians 2:1-2)

First, Paul describes his "struggle" for them. The word here means "to agonize". He thinks about them; He prays for them; He works for their good. 

Next, Paul lays out his goals. He struggles in prayer and service to these ends. 

1. He desires to see their hearts knit together in love. This is a great picture of what a church is supposed to be. 
2. He desires for them to be encouraged. They are facing challenges and trials and need encouraged. 
3. He desires that they would know and live out of the fullness Jesus Christ. This is the glorious fulfillment of the gospel. 

As I consider this list I am challenged to be a better Pastor; a more faithful discipler of others. This is Paul's heart. These are Paul's goals. How does Paul's heart challenge you? 

A Necessary Distraction from Today's To-do List

I am a prideful person. So often I begin my days like a race horse bursting from the shoot. Full of energy. Full of goals. Ready to start checking things off my to do list. And today was no exception. 

You see today I have a significant to do list: lessons to write, t-shirts to pick-up, a baptistry to fill, people to contact, a sermon to review, etc. So why I am posting a blog for the first time in a few years? Well, first on my to-do list is my daily bible reading. I am usually pretty good at quickly navigating through my bible reading, checking those boxes and moving on. By the way my reading is four separate boxes so eliminating four items off my list is a great way to start my day! Are you seeing the "prideful person" problem yet? But this morning as I was racing along Psalm 123 slowed me way down. It slowed me down enough that I clicked on my "dusty" blogger link and I started typing. Here is Psalm 123:

(1) I look up toward you, the one enthroned in heaven. (2) Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes will look to the LORD, our God, until he shows us favor. (3) Show us favor, O LORD, show us favor! For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some. (4) We have had our fill of the taunts of the self-assured, of the contempt of the proud. (NET)

As I read through the Psalm verse 3 grabbed my attention. The Psalmist pleads for "favor." Tired of humiliation. Tired of the taunts of the arrogant, the Psalmist is asking Yahweh to intervene, so he pleads for the favor (grace and mercy) of the LORD. Immediately my mind raced forward to one of the last things on today's to-do list: Our churches participation in the Have-a-Blast community event tonight. I prayed a silent prayer, "Father, show us favor." 

From there my mind jumped forward to Sunday. What this Psalmist pleads for is exactly what our men plead for every Sunday morning at 8am. We gather to ask for the favor of the LORD to be on our 10am worship gathering. I prayed another silent prayer, "Father, show us favor." 

Then as I glanced over at my open to-do list - still no checked boxes - I was reminded that I need the favor of the LORD for ALL of these tasks. As I looked back at the Psalm again the opening declaration made more sense: "I look up." The Psalmist owns his position - he is low; he is on the earth; he is weak BUT the LORD is high; the LORD is in the heavens; the LORD is enthroned in power.

He then offers a pair of helpful metaphors. Like a servant looks to his master; like a female servant looks to her mistress that is how the Psalmist looks to Yahweh. Cutting through the distance of culture, time, and geography how does a servant look to his master? IN COMPLETE DEPENDANCE - "Our eyes will look the LORD, our God until he shows us favor." 

As I pondered this I was reminded of a powerful quote by Charles Bridges from his commentary on Proverbs: “Pride lifts up the heart against God and contends for the supremacy with Him.  How unseemly moreover is this sin?  A creature so utterly dependent and so fearfully guilty, yet proud in heart.”  

Psalm 123 was the truth I needed today. Psalm 123 is the truth I need everyday. Psalm 123 stands up to my arrogant pride. Psalm 123 slows me down and helps me gain perspective in regards to my weakness and my Father's strength. Psalm 123 is a ready-made prayer that I hope becomes a regular part of my daily and even hourly routine. 

What about you? What is on your to-do list today? The Psalmist invites you to join the prayer: "Father, show us favor." 

Psalm 16 - He is Our Refuge

Psalm 14 is famous for its opening line, "The food says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" From there the Psalmist goes on to describe the troublesome outcome of living as if there were no God - no authority, no good. 

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. 2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt, there is none who does good, not even one. 4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?

In verses 5-6 the Psalmist introduces the collision that comes when the wicked who profess there is no God interact with the righteous who know and love God: "There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. you would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge."

There are two points of encouragement for the Christian (the righteous) that I would like to point out from these verses. 

First, even though we live in a world filled with those who do not fear God, God is with the righteous. When the Psalmist declares that God is "with" the righteous he means that God is "for" the righteous or you could say God is on the side of the righteous. 

Second, when the wicked rise against the righteous, attempting to "shame the plans of the poor" verse 6 teaches us that the LORD is our refuge. That is, Yahweh protects the righteous from the attacks of the wicked.; Yahweh protects the righteous from the attacks of the enemy. HE is OUR REFUGE. 

These are beautiful and comforting promises to consider today. He is for us. He will defend us. This brings us to the final verse where the Psalmist hopefully longs for Salvation to come. With this coming Salvation the LORD will restore the fortunes of his people. Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad. 

The hopeful longing of the Psalmist was fulfilled with the coming of Jesus. In Jesus fortunes are restored, we can rejoice and be glad. 

Yet here we - the righteous (who are righteous only in and because of Jesus) - like the Psalmist are waiting for the completion of our Salvation. We wait among people who do not know our God; people who reject his authority and sometimes, somedays this can be hard. We get discouraged. We feel beat down. We may even want to give up. But in those moments we must remember he (our God) is for you and he (Yahweh) will defend you. 

In this we rejoice and are glad. 

Passion Week - Friday Devotional Thoughts

Passion Week - Thursday Devotional Thoughts

Today we consider the events of Thursday, April 2, 33AD

Passion Week - Wednesday Devotional Thoughts

Today we reflect on the events surrounding Jesus on Wednesday (April 1, AD 33).

Amidst the week Wednesday is the calm before the storm, but there is one passage I want us to consider:

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, ⁷ a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. ⁸ And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹ For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” ¹⁰ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. ¹² In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” - Matthew 26:6-13

Monday night I read through Russ Ramsey's meditations on this passage with my family - we recorded it so you could join in.

Passion Week - Tuesday Devotional Thoughts

Tuesday (March 31, AD 33) was a full day for Jesus - sharing parables, answering questions, pronouncing judgment on the religious leaders and even sharing a prophecy regarding the future destruction of the temple. Matthew provides the most thorough account of Tuesday's events so I encourage you to take some time today to read Matthew 21:18-25:46.

Tuesday includes...

• Jesus cursing the Fig Tree
• Jesus authority challenged 
• Parable of the two sons 
• Parable of the tenants 
• Parable of the wedding feast 
• Jesus is questioned about taxes 
• Jesus is questioned about the resurrection 
• Jesus is questioned about the greatest commandment
• Jesus applies Psalm 110:1 to himself 
• Jesus pronounces "woes" on the Scribes and Pharisees (I love his creativity in this section)
• Jesus laments over Jerusalem 
• Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple 
• Parable of the ten virgins 
• Parable of the talents 
• Jesus speaks to the final judgment

So as you can see it was a "full day." Many of the passages and parables that we know well came to be on the Tuesday of Passion Week. But for the Scribes and Pharisees this day's interactions with Jesus only solidified their resolve to end him.

Jesus threatened their authority. Jesus humiliated them. This is why the Parable of the Tenants stands out to me among all of the other events. Matthew records this parable in 21:33-46. In the parable the Vineyard creator and owner (Yahweh) leaves his Vineyard (Israel) in the care of Tenants (Religious Leaders) but when the owner sends his servants (Prophets) to gather fruit from the vineyard the tenants beat one, killed one, and stoned another. This cycle continued, until finally the owner decided to send his own son (Jesus) saying, "they will respect my son." But they do not respect him, instead they plot against the son, desiring his inheritance for themselves, and kill him. Jesus asks, "what do you think the owner will do to those tenants?"

At the conclusion of the parable Matthew records, "When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parable they perceived that he was speaking about them." Their perception was right.

Matthew records these words (which seem to bring Tuesday to a close), "When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 'You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, 'Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.'" Matthew 26:1-5

Did none of them make the connection between Jesus parable and their actions? Whether they did or not the wheels are turning and there is no stopping what is coming.

Passion Week - Monday Devotional Thoughts

This week we will be considering the days leading up to Jesus crucifixion. We begin today reflecting on Monday, March 30, AD 33. 

Passages to consider today: Matthew 21:18-19; Mark 11:12-14 - Jesus Curses a Fig Tree

Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-28 - Jesus Cleanses the Temple 

Please take time to watch this video as I explain my intent this week, suggest some books and read Russ Ramsey's chapter on Matthew 21:12-17. 

A Reflection on Psalm 9:10

This morning I was reading Psalm 9, which is jam packed with amazing truths, but one in particular caught my attention. It is in verses 9-10..

The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
  And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

For those of you who journeyed through the Old Testament with us in 2019, I hope it catches your attention too. It's the opening line of verse 10, "And those who know your name put their trust in you." His name? What does his name have to do with anything?

Well what is his name? If you go back to verse 9 it reads, "The LORD...". All caps means this is the personal name of the God of Israel - Yahweh. Now that we know the name let's plug it in: "And those who know your name - Yahweh - put their trust in you."

Here David reflects on the character (we might say the track record) of Yahweh. He has never once abandon his people or the promises he made to his people - think Joshua, Israel, the Judges, Ruth, Samuel, David, the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.

So David declares those who know your name...those who know who you are...those who know what you have done...those who know how gracious and merciful you are...those who know how faithful you are...those are the people who put their trust in you.

Do you know him? If you do...if you really KNOW him...then you WILL trust him. And by the way we get to know him by digging in the Bible; by reflecting on Psalm 9; by reflecting on Mark 9 (both are our assigned reading for today).

Finally let me encourage you that whatever you face today YOU CAN TRUST HIM. He is faithful.

How Often Do You Need to Read the Bible?

Yesterday I issued a challenge to the Meadowview family to READ SCRIPTURE in 2020. We considered Psalm 1; Matthew 4:4; Job 23:12; Jeremiah 23:29; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:14-17. One quote that I intended to share was this one by John Blanchard:

Surely we only have to be realistic and honest with ourselves to know how regularly we need to turn to the Bible. How often do we face problems, temptation and pressure? Every day! Then how often do we need instruction, guidance and greater encouragement? Every day! To catch all these felt needs up into an even greater issue, how often do we need to see God's face, hear his voice, feel his touch, know his power? The answer to all these questions is the same: every day! As the American evangelist D.L. Moody put it, 'A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it. (Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 28)

This year - 2020 - focus on the God's Words. They are far more moving than anything you can watch on Netflix. They are far more encouraging and life-giving than anything you will find on Facebook or Instagram. Set aside the time, follow the plan (Mark 4; Psalm 4 today), pull out and focus on at least one truth from what you read, and finally create accountability - let's do this together.

Twelve Reasons Church Membership Matters

The following Twelve Reasons Church Membership Matters is taken from Jonathan Leeman's book Church Membership, which is part of the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series.

1. It's biblical. Jesus established the local church and all the apostles did their ministry through it. The Christian life in the New Testament is church life. Christians today should expect and desire the same.

2. The Church is its members. To be a church in the New Testament is to be one of its members (read through Acts). And you want to be part of the church because that's who Jesus came to rescue and reconcile to himself.

3. It's a prerequisite for the Lords Supper. The Lord's Supper is a meal for the gathered church, this is, for members (see 1 Corinthians 11:20-33). And you want to take the Lord's Supper. It's the team flag that makes the church team visible to the nations.

4. It's how you officially represent Jesus. Membership is the church's affirmation that you are a citizen of Christ's kingdom and therefore a passport-carrying Jesus representative before the nations. And you want your representation to be authorized. Closely related to this...

5. It's how you declare your highest allegiance. Your membership on the team, which becomes visible when you wave the flag of the Lord's supper is a public testimony that your highest allegiance belongs to Jesus. Trials and persecution may come, but your only words are, "I am a Christian."

6. It's how you embody and experience biblical images. It's within the accountability structures of the local church that Christians live and experience the inter connectivity of his body, the spiritual fullness of his temple, and the safety and intimacy and shared identity of his family.

7. It's how you serve other Christians. Membership helps you to know which Christians on planet Earth you are specifically responsible to love, serve, warn and encourage. It enables you to fulfill your biblical responsibilities to Christ's body (for example, see Eph. 4:11-16, 25-32)

8. It's how you follow Christian leaders. Membership helps you to know which Christian leaders on planet Earth you are called to obey and follow. Again, it allows you to fulfill your biblical responsibility to them (see Heb. 13:7, 17)

9. It helps Christian leaders lead. Membership lets Christians leaders know which Christians on planet Earth they will "give an account" for (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2)

10. It enables church discipline. It gives you the biblically prescribed place to participate in the work of church discipline responsibly, wisely, and lovingly (1 Cor. 5).

11. It gives structure to your Christian life. It places an individual Christian's claim to obey and follow Jesus into a real-life settling where authority is actually exercised over us (see John 14:15; 1 John 2:19; 4:20-21). It's God's discipling program.

12. It builds a witness and invites the nations. Membership puts the alternative rule of Christ on display for the watching universe (see Matt. 5:13; John 13:34-35; Eph. 3:10; 1 Pet. 2:9-12). The very boundaries, which are drawn around the membership of a church, yield a society of people that invites the nations to something better. It's God's evangelism program.

Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus, Jonathan Leeman, pg. 79-81.

Reading the Bible Obediently

Over the last couple of weeks I have posted some quotations, from Eugene Peterson's book A Long Obedience In The Same Direction, about reading the bible slowly. In this final post consider what he writes about reading the bible Obediently.

Obediently? We aren’t used to this. We have grown up in a culture that urges us to take charge of our own lives. We are introduced to thousands of books which we are trained to use – look up information, acquire skills, master knowledge, divert ourselves…whatever. But use? Well-meaning people have told us that the Bible is useful, and so we pick it up. We adapt, edit, sift, summarize. We then use whatever seems useful and apply it in our circumstances however we see fit. We take charge of the Bible, using it as a toolbox to repair our lives or as a guidebook for getting what we want or as an inspirational tract to enliven a dull day.
But we aren’t smart enough to do that; nor can we be trusted to do that. The Author of the book is writing us into his book, we aren’t writing him into ours. We find ourselves in the book as followers of Jesus. Jesus calls us to follow him and we obey – or we do not. This is an immense world of God’s salvation that we are entering; we don’t know enough to ‘apply’ anything. Our task is to obey, believingly, trustingly obey. Simply obey.

Reading the Bible Prayerfully

This is the third installment from Eugene Peterson's book A Long Obedience In The Same Direction, about reading the bible slowly. In this post consider what he writes about reading the bible prayerfully.

We are taught to read in order to gather information. Our schools train us to read books so that we can pass examinations. We’re good at looking for facts. ‘Knowledge is power,’ they tell us. Books contain stuff that we can use to get a degree, fix an engine, hold down a job, solve a mystery. But the Bible is not primarily a source of information; it is one of the primary ways that God uses to speak to us. ‘God’s Word’ we call it, which is to say, God’s voice – God speaking to us, inviting, promising, blessing, confronting, commanding, healing. The Bible is not so much God telling us some thing – some idea, some fact, some rule – as God speaking life into us. Are we listening? Are we answering? Bible reading is prayed reading. Long Obedience In the Same Direction, Eugene H. Peterson, 2000

Reading the Bible Imaginatively

Last week I posted a lengthy quotation, from Eugene Peterson's book A Long Obedience In The Same Direction, about reading the bible slowly. In this post consider what he writes about reading the bible imaginatively.

Imaginatively. The Bible includes us, always. Our lives are implicitly involved in everything said and done in this book. In order to realize this we must enter the story imaginatively. We must let our conversations and experiences and thoughts be brought into the story so that we can observe what happens to us in this new context, through this story line, rubbing shoulders with these characters. We have picked up the bad habits of reducing what we find in the Bible to ideas or slogans or principles or out-of-context ‘verses.’ Forget the details; skip the mystery; we want a definition we can grasp and be comfortable with. We depersonalize the Bible into abstractions or ‘truths’ that we can reconfigure and then fit into the plots that we make up for our lives. But the Bible shows us God present and active in and among living, breathing human beings, the same kind and sort of men and women that we are. Imagination in the capacity we have of crossing boundaries of space and time, with all our senses intact, and entering into other God-revealed conversations and actions, finding ourselves at home in Bible country. (Long Obedience In the Same Direction, Eugene H. Peterson, 2000)

Introduction to Spiritual Gifts

On Sunday (April 8, 2018) we studied 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. In this passage Paul begins with a Spiritual Test. The Corinthians were gauging their "spirituality" on what gifts (abilities) they had received from the Holy Spirit (gifts like tongues, prophecy, mercy, etc.), and this was causing divisions in the church. So Paul offers this as a basis of spirituality: if a person confesses Jesus as Lord, they are spiritual. In other words any person who makes a profession of faith regarding the Lordship of Jesus, is "spiritual" because the Spirit of God indwells them and enabled them to make such a claim.

The second point Paul made was regarding the Spiritual Source. This was verses 4-7. But before we get to verse 7, which is the thesis of the chapter - we can't bypass verses 4-6 because they provide us with a beautiful Trinitarian statement that is full of truth.

Varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit
Varieties of ministry (service), but the same Lord
Varieties of activities (works), but the same God

The Greek term translated "gifts" is charisma, which means "grace-gift." These grace-gifts are what we call Spiritual Gifts. Grace-gifts are not something to brag about (part of the Corinthians problem), but rather something to be grateful for. The point we need to remember is we did nothing to deserve the gift in the first place, so where is boasting then?

Verse 7 teaches us that when we use our spiritual gifts we reveal the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches. They are supernatural abilities, with the ultimate aim of "building up the body." This phrase doesn't show up yet, but this is what Paul is getting at when he writes that our gifts are for the "common good." This comes with a couple of implications:

1. My gift is the churches gift. It is not for self indulgence. Following the service Nathan Piper suggested another way to consider this would be that my church family has a right to my gift.
2. Gifts are never meant to promote my own status or agenda. I am an empty glove, a tool, the Holy Spirit is the hand that accomplishes all the work. 

Finally in verses 8-10 we find Paul listing a sample of the Spiritual Gifts (also see 1 Corinthians 12:28-30; Romans 12, Ephesians 4), which we will discuss in detail in the coming weeks. Verse 11 offers the conclusion of this passage, by creating a bookend with verse 7. Both of these verses contain similar thoughts. Let me conclude by providing a few implications:

1. The Spirit is sovereign in distributing the gifts, therefore the recognition for the gifts belongs to Spirit.
2. No single person has all of the gifts, therefore we need each other.
3. The Spirit works in every Christian in the church, therefore no one is left with nothing to do. No member of the body is unnecessary or expendable.

In conclusion we (like the Corinthians) need to understand who we are as individuals and who we are as a group of believers - and these two things are interdependent upon each other. You cannot define yourself as an individual without including your membership with Meadowview Baptist Church. And Meadowview Baptist Church's description is not complete without describing the individual members that make it up.

I'm really looking forward to this study and as we continue forward would you join me in praying that you and the rest of our Meadowview family would come to know what it truly mean to "BELONG."

Reading the Bible Slowly

In January I finally read a particular book that's been on my shelf for years. The author is Eugene Peterson. The book is A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Overall the book is an expositional study of the Psalms of Ascent (Psalm 120-134). And if you were to examine my copy of the book you would see many notations of helpful points in each chapter. But what I want to share with you in my next few blogs is the Epilogue where Peterson challenges us to consider the way we read Scripture.

If we are serious about following Jesus and living out the gift of His life in detail in our bodies and circumstances, we must swim against the whitewater River We [a reference to our self focus] and familiarize ourselves with the world in which Jesus and his gift of life are revealed to us. We do it by reading our Scriptures slowly, imaginatively, prayerfully and obediently. Each adverb is important.

Slowly. The Bible provides the revelation of a world that has primarily to do with God. It is a huge world, far larger than what we inhabit on our own. We live in sin-cramped conditions, mostly conscious of ourselves – our feelings and frustrations, our desires and ideas, our achievements and discoveries, our failures and hurts. The Bible is deep and wide with God’s love and grace, brimming over with surprises of mercy and mystery, peppered with alarming exposes of sin and bulletins of judgment. This is an immense world, and it takes time to adjust to the majesty – we’re not used to anything on this scale. We’ve grown up on the streets and back alleys of Lilliput – it takes a while for our eyes to adjust. If we move into the Scriptures too fast or move through them too fast, we’ll miss most of what is here.

Next week we will consider Peterson's challenge to read the Bible imaginatively.

Wrong Thinking Regarding Church Membership

This month we are focusing on the importance of Church Membership. Don't worry you read that right! Church Membership is very important. But sadly many don't understand this truth. The following list reveals where many go wrong:

• Christians can think it's fine to attend church indefinitely without joining; 
• Christians think of getting baptized apart from joining;  
• Christians take the Lord's Supper without joining; 
• Christians view the Lord's Supper as their own private, mystical experience for Christians and not as an activity for church members who are incorporated into body life together;  
• Christians don't integrate their Monday-to-Saturday lives with the lives of other saints; 
• Christians assume they can make a perpetual habit of being absent from the churches gathering a few Sunday's a month or more; 
• Christians make major life decisions (moving, accepting a promotion, choosing a spouse, etc.) without considering the effects of those decisions on the family of relationships in the church or without consulting the wisdom of the church's pastor and other members; 
• Christians buy homes or rent apartments with scant regard for how factors such as distance and cost will affect their abilities to serve their church; 
• Christians don't realize that they are partly responsible for both the spiritual welfare and the physical livelihood of the other members of their church, even members they have not met. When one mourns, one mourns by himself. When one rejoices, one rejoices by herself. 

How important is Church Membership to you? 

Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus, Jonathan Leeman, pg. 23

Communicate the Gospel Plainly

Last month we focused on Evangelism (the 5th mark of a healthy church), so I wanted to spend a few blog posts encouraging us in our evangelism. I recently read through a great summary in Michael Lawrence's book Conversion.

First we must communicate the gospel PLAINLY

Someone once said, "Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words." This quote may sound good, but just because something sounds good doesn't make it true. The gospel (a.k.a. good news) needs to be spoken and spoken plainly.

There are many good and bad things that have attempted to take the place of the gospel through the centuries, but no message can replace the gospel. Lawrence writes, "The gospel isn't merely that "God loves you" or "Jesus will give you purpose." It doesn't promise a happy marriage or success at work or successful children. It may help, but it offers no guarantees. The heart of the gospel is that Jesus died and rose again as a substitute for sinners, appeasing God's just wrath and reconciling us to himself."

What this means is followers of Jesus must know the gospel message so well that we are always ready to give an answer for the hope we have (1 Peter 3:15). Let me encourage you to learn and practice PLAINLY communicating the gospel with others.