Christian Life

The Difference That Makes All the Difference

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

Francis Schaeffer, of his own testimony, writes:

“I became a Christian once for all upon the basis of the finished work of Christ through faith; that is justification. The Christian life, sanctification, operates on the same basis, but moment by moment. There is the same base (Christ’s work) and the same instrument (faith); the only difference is that one is once for all and the other is moment by moment…  If we try to live the Christian life in our own strength we will have sorrow, but if we live in this way, we will not only serve the Lord, but in place of sorrow, He will be our song. That is the difference. The ‘how’ of the Christian life is the power of the crucified and risen Lord, through the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit, by faith moment by moment.”

An important -even essential – distinction. It’s not just for the sake of doctrinal precision. It makes all the difference in how we live out our lives.

Paradoxes of Grace

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

In his excellent, perspective shaping book, Broken-Down House, Paul Tripp reflects some of the amazing paradoxes of the gospel.  Take some time to ponder these; feel the tension. This is what genuine grace is and does:

So grace is a story and grace is a gift. It is God’s character and it is your hope. Grace is a transforming tool and a state of relationship. Grace is a theology and an invitation. Grace is an experience and a calling. Grace will turn your life upside-down while giving you a rest you have never known. Grace will convince you of your unworthiness without ever making you feel unloved.

Grace will make you acknowledge that you cannot earn God’s favor, and it will remove your fear of not measuring up to his standards. Grace will confront you with the fact that you are much less than you thought you were, even as it assures you that you can be far more than you had ever imagined. Grace will put you in your place without ever putting you down.

Grace will enable you to face truths about yourself that you have hesitated to consider, while freeing you from being self-consciously introspective. Grace will confront you with profound weaknesses, and at the same time introduce you to new-found strength. Grace will tell you what you aren’t, while welcoming you to what you can now be. Grace will make you as uncomfortable as you have ever been, while offering you more comfort than you have ever known. Grace will drive you to the end of yourself, while it invites you to fresh starts and new beginnings. Grace will dash your hopes, but never leave you hopeless. Grace will decimate your kingdom as it introduces you to a better King. Grace will expose your blindness as it gives you eyes to see. Grace will make you sadder than you have ever been, while it gives you greater cause for celebration than you have ever known.

Grace enters your life in a moment and will occupy you for eternity. You simply cannot live a productive life in this broken-down world unless you have a practical grasp of the grace you have been given [in Christ].

When God…

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

When God had mercy on us, when God revealed Jesus Christ to us as brother, when God won our hearts by God’s own love, our instruction in Christian love began at the same time. When God was merciful to us, we learned to be merciful with one another. When we received forgiveness instead of judgment, we too were made ready to forgive each other. What God did to us, we then owed to others. The more we received, the more we were able to give; and the more meager our love for one another, the less we were living by God’s mercy and love. Thus God taught us to encounter one another as God has encountered us in Christ.  “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”  (Romans 15.7)

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Schaeffer’s Theorem

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

Francis Schaeffer was a prophetic voice to Christianity for the latter half of the 20th Century.  His treatises such as Mark of the Christian and Two Contents, Two Realities were excellent primers for Gospel-Centered & Missional Christianity long before either Gospel-Centered or Missional were coined terms.

The premise behind his philosophy has been has been summarized in this mathematical equation:

  • Truth – Love = Ugliness
  • Love – Truth = Compromise

How might this theorem, if lived out, effect the church? How could it impact your life?

the-mark-of-the-christian-francis-schaefferDownload

Tough Questions From a Pre-Teen Girl

/ Dennis Griffith / 3 Comments

The following are answers to questions asked by a then-12 year old girl.  This young lady had had a very, very difficult life, but was very bright and determined.   At the time she wrote the note to me asking these questions, she had only recently come to live with her father – a godly man.  Now twenty-something, she has grown into a beautiful and sharp young woman.

She has given her permission to use our correspondence for this post.

***

1.      Why do people look so depressing, sad, and miserable when we pray? 

This is a good question.  There is no good reason to be sad & miserable when we pray, but I think you are right that sometimes we look that way.

I guess the reason is that people want to be reverent, or to be serious, when they approach our Holy God.  This is a good thing, since the Bible calls us to “Fear the Lord”.  (Deuteronomy 6:13; Proverbs 9:10)   BUT, if Christians do not have joy as they pray, then they are forgetting that God loves us; that He is our Father, and wants us to come to him with joy & thanksgiving.  We are unbalanced between Fearing God & Loving God.

 2.      Why does God choose some people, but not all, to spread His Word?

I am guessing that you have two questions combined here.

First, Why does God not call everyone to be a Christian?  The answer is that everyone is to hear the call to follow Christ, but only those God chooses are able to become Christians.  Why does he choose some but not others? We don’t know.

Second, Why are not all Christians called to spread his Word?  The answer: All are called to spread his Word, by teaching and by our actions.  Some are called to spread his Word to other countries. Some are called to spread his Word by preaching in the church. Some to spread it by teaching Sunday school. Others are called to spread it to their friends, neighbors, and family.  Not everyone does it, but all are called to spread the Word somewhere & somehow.

3.      Why did God flood the earth when not everybody was being bad? 

Romans 3:10 and 3:23 tell us that there is no one who is good.  This is difficult to hear, but it is true. It is also important to help understand my answer to your question.

If you read Genesis 6:5 it says “The Lord saw …man’s wickedness…” There was no one good on the earth, everyone was being bad. Romans 6:23 says: “The wages of sin is death.”  This means that anyone & everyone who sins deserves death – in this case by drowning in a flood.

In Genesis 6:8-9 it says “Noah found favor in God’s eyes…” and “…he walked with God”.  This does not mean that Noah was perfect, and that he was not doing bad – though he was better than most men. (Remember Romans 3:23 “All sinned… fall short of the glory of God.”) That he “found favor in the eyes of the Lord” means that God chose to love him even though he was a sinner.  Genesis 6:9 says: “Noah was a righteous man”… this means that he believed in God, and trusted God for his salvation. Noah did not believe he was good enough, and knew he needed God’s grace.  (Romans 1:17 tells us that righteousness comes by faith. Hebrews 11:6 says: “Without faith it is impossible to please God…”)

Now the great thing about this is that God does the same thing with us.  You & I, and everyone else, are sinners.  We may be better than many people, but we are still not perfect like God wants us to be.

But read Romans 5:6-8… Is that great or what?!!

The important thing, though, is to believe what God has provided for our salvation from his punishment.  For Noah it was the Ark, but really it was a Savior.  For us (and for Noah, too, really) it is Jesus – a person not a boat!

Read 1 John 5, and it shows the importance of believing & trusting in Jesus for our salvation and forgiveness of our sin.

(A guy named Fritz Ridenhour has written a cool book for teenagers, How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious. It is about all this Romans stuff.  I have a copy if you want to borrow it from me.)

4.      Why does God make some peoples’ lives worse than others? 

This is a difficult question, and I am so sorry that you have had some very hard things happen in your life.  But the best way I can answer this is in two ways.

First, sin is in this world and hurts people –both those who sin and those they sin against.  It will continue to hurt people until Jesus returns to take us with Him.  This does not mean that God does not love us or care for us, or that he will not protect us.  He does, and He shows it all the time.  But what he also does is remind us that someday soon he will take us where there is no sin.

Look at it this way, before your Dad had you with him, he loved you, and cared for you. He gave you some good times, even though some bad things were happening around you. But he also told you that he wanted you to live with him.  Even before you got to live with him you had both good & bad times. You looked forward to when you could be with him, and this gave you hope.  Now that you have moved in with him many of the bad things are away from you.  God continues to give us this same type hope when he reminds us of heaven – except all bad things will be away from us in Heaven. Until then our lives will be mixed with good and bad.

Why are some worse than others? That I do not know. The book of Job is a good example of your question, but God does not totally answer it.  God simply says we should trust him, because we know He is good.

Second, some of our hardships come from decisions we make. There are consequences to our actions. If you commit a crime, you may go to jail. If unmarried teenagers are sexually active a pregnancy may result.

But even the consequences to our own actions are not all bad.  Hebrews 12:6 says: “The Lord disciplines those He loves.”  And please read 1 Peter 1:3-9 for encouragement.

Continue reading →

I Asked the Lord to Grow in Grace

/ Dennis Griffith / 4 Comments

This song comes from a beautiful poem by John Newton.  It is a powerful reminder to me about God’s grace and how God works.

Like Newton in the opening lines of this poem, I often ask God to grow me in grace and faith and the fruits of his Spirit.

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

And like Newton expresses in the third stanza, in my mind this is something noble and therefore should be experienced mystically, gently and painlessly:

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Spiritual growth is easy, right? It should be automatic. Like sleeping, or breathing.  Certainly it should be no more difficult than eating, or learning to ride a bike or drive…

Continue reading →

How to Spend a Day With God

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

Richard Baxter wrote:

A holy life is inclined to be made easier when we know the usual sequence and method of our duties – with everything falling into its proper place.

In other words, our souls flourish most vibrantly when there is a natural rythm to our lives.  These rythms include our daily and weekly routines and practices, as well as the more occasional. Among the more occasional is just getting away from everything and spending a day with the Lord.  Such times of retreat are vital to the renewal of our hearts, especially if our daily lives are packed with a variety of stresses and/or conflicts. 

But what about the regular days? What about times when you cannot get away?  How do we honor God and find refreshment on such ordinary days? How can each ordinary day be of use toward our spiritual renewal?

I am indebted to Baxter for some practical directions about how to spend a day with God without having to go on spiritual retreat. I have adapted his suggestions below:

  • Sleep

Measure the time of your sleep appropriately so that you do not waste your precious morning hours sluggishly in your bed. Let the time of your sleep be matched to your health and labour, and not to slothful pleasure.

  • First Thoughts

Let God have your first awaking thoughts; lift up your hearts to Him reverently and thankfully for the rest enjoyed the night before and cast yourself upon Him for the day which follows.

Discipline yourself so consistently to this that your conscience may check you when other more common thoughts begin to intrude. Think of the mercy of a night’s rest and of how many that have spent that night in Hell; how many in prison; how many in cold, hard lodgings; how many suffering from agonizing pains and sickness, weary of their beds and of their lives.

Think of how many souls were that night called from their bodies terrifyingly to appear before God and think how quickly days and nights are rolling on! How speedily your last night and day will come! Observe that which is lacking in the preparedness of your soul for such a time and seek it without delay.

  • Prayer

Let prayer by yourself alone (or with your partner) take place before any work of the day.

  • Family Worship

Let family worship be performed consistently and at a time when it is most likely for the family to be free of interruptions.

  • Ultimate Purpose

Remember your ultimate purpose (which is to gloify God by enjoying Him), and when you set yourself to your day’s work or approach any activity in the world, let “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” be written upon your hearts in all that you do.

Do no activity which you cannot entitle God to, and truly say that he is the one who set you about it, and do nothing in the world for any other ultimate purpose than to please, glorify and enjoy Him.

“Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  ~ 1 Corinthians 10.31

  • Diligence in Your Calling

Follow the tasks of your calling carefully and diligently.

Thus:

(a) You will show that you are not sluggish and a servant to your flesh (which seeks comfort, amusement, and ease), and you will further the putting to death of all the fleshly lusts and desires that are fed by ease and idleness.

(b) You will keep out idle thoughts from your mind, that swarm in the minds of idle persons.

(c) You will not lose precious time, something that idle persons are daily guilty of.

(d) You will be proving obedient to God, when the slothful are in constant sins of omission.

(e) You may have more time to spend in holy duties if you follow your occupation diligently. Idle persons have no time for praying and reading because they lose time by loitering at their work.

(f) You may expect God’s blessing and comfortable provision for both yourself and your families.

(g) it may also encourage the health of your body which will increase its competence for the service of your soul.

  • Temptations and Things That Corrupt

Be thoroughly acquainted with your temptations and the things that may corrupt you – and watch against them all day long. You should watch especially the most dangerous of the things that corrupt, and those temptations that either your company or business will unavoidably lay before you.

Watch against the master sins of unbelief: hypocrisy, selfishness, pride, flesh pleasing and the excessive love of earthly things. Take care against being drawn into earthly mindedness and excessive cares, or covetous designs for rising in the world, under the pretence of diligence in your calling.

If you are to trade or deal with others, be vigilant against selfishness and all that smacks of injustice or uncharitableness. In all your dealings with others, watch against the temptation of empty and idle talking. Watch also against those persons who would tempt you to anger. Maintain that modesty and cleanness of speech that the laws of purity require. If you converse with flatterers, be on your guard against swelling pride.

If you converse with those that despise and injure you, strengthen yourself against impatient, revengeful pride.

At first these things will be very difficult, while sin has any strength in you.  But once you have grasped a continual awareness of the poisonous danger of any one of these sins, your heart will readily and easily avoid them.

  • Meditation

When alone in your occupations, improve the time in practical and beneficial meditations. Meditate upon the infinite goodness and perfections of God; Christ and redemption; Heaven and how unworthy you are of going there and yet at the same time how awesome God’s love to you.  Remind yourself of the gospel in its various aspects.

  • The Only Motive

Whatever you are doing, in company or alone, do it all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10.31). Otherwise, it is unacceptable to God.

  • Redeeming The Time

Place a high value upon your time. Be more careful of not losing time than you would of losing your money. Do not let worthless recreations, television, idle talk, unprofitable company, or sleep rob you of your precious time.

Be more careful to escape that person, action or course of life that would rob you of your time than you would be to escape thieves and robbers.

Make sure that you are not merely never idle, but rather that you are using your time in the most profitable way that you can and do not prefer a less profitable way before one of greater profit.

  • Eating and Drinking

Eat and drink with moderation, and thankfulness for health, not for unprofitable pleasure. Never please your appetite in food or drink when it is prone to be detrimental to your health.

Remember the sin of Sodom: “Look, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, excess of food and prosperous ease…” ~ Ezekiel 16.49.

The Apostle Paul wept when he mentioned those “whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – who set their minds on earthly things, being enemies to the cross of Christ” ~ Philippians 3.18-19.  So then, do not live according to the flesh lest you die (Romans 8.13).

  • Prevailing Sins

If any temptation prevails against you and you fall into any sins in addition to habitual failures, immediately lament it and confess it to God; repent quickly whatever the cost. It will certainly cost you more if you continue in sin and remain unrepentant.

Do not make light of your habitual failures, but confess them and daily strive against them, taking care not to aggravate them by unrepentance and contempt.

  • Relationships

Remember every day the special duties of various relationships: whether as husbands, wives, children, employers, supervisors, employees, pastors, church members, magistrates, citizens.

Remember every relationship has its special duty and its advantage for the doing of some good. God requires your faithfulness in this matter as well as in any other duty.

  • Closing the Day

Before returning to sleep, it is wise and necessary to review the actions and mercies of the day past, so that you may be thankful for all the special mercies and humbled for all your sins.

This is necessary in order that you might renew your repentance as well as your resolve for obedience, and in order that you may examine yourself to see whether your soul grew better or worse, whether sin goes down and grace goes up and whether you are better prepared for suffering, death and eternity.

May these directions be engraven upon your mind and be made the daily practice of your life.  If sincerely adhered to, these will be conducive to the holiness, fruitfulness, and peace in your life.

For Love of the Savior

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

“What ultimately keeps our motives biblically prioritized and holy before God is the profound conviction that obeying God will merit us nothing. This is why Jesus tells us that, when we have done all that we should do, we are still unprofitable servants. Jesus does not nullify the value of duty in order to dissuade us from serving God, but to keep is from depending on duty to gain God’s acceptance. When we understand that our works in themselves earn us no merit with God, then the only reason to do those works is love for Him. Thus we learn to serve God not for personal gain but for His glory – not for love of self but for love of the Savior.”

~ Bryan Chapell

Advantages of Pleasing God More Than People

/ Dennis Griffith / 3 Comments

The following dozen points are about the advantages to us in seeking to please God, instead of living for the approval of other people. They were originally written by the great English Puritan, Richard Baxter.

I have attempted to clean up the language a little, hopefully without dulling the wisdom:

1. If you seek first to please God and are satisfied with that, you have but one to please instead of multitudes; and a multitude of masters are harder pleased than one.

2. And God is one who puts nothing upon you that is unreasonable, as far as quantity or quality.

3. And God is one who is perfectly wise and good, not liable to misunderstand your case and actions.

4. And God is one who is most holy, and is not pleased in iniquity or dishonesty.

5. And He is one that is impartial and most just, and is no respecter of persons. Acts 10:34

6. And He is one that is a competent judge, who is both fit and has authority, and is acquainted with your hearts, with your every circumstance and every reason behind your actions.

7. And He is one who perfectly agrees with himself, and does not subject you to contradictions or impossibilities.

8. And He is one who is constant and unchangeable; He is not pleased with one thing today and another contrary thing tomorrow; nor is He pleased with one person this year, whom he will be weary of the next.

9. And He is one who is merciful, and never requires you to hurt yourselves to please him: Nay, he is pleased with nothing from you except that which tends to your ultimate happiness; and displeased with nothing except that which hurts you or others, just as a father that is displeased with his children whenever they defile or hurt themselves.

10. He is gentle, though just, even when he disciplines you; judging accurately, but not harshly, nor making your actions out to be worse than they are.

11. He is one that is not subject to the irrational passions of men, which blind their minds, and carry them to injustice.

12. He is one who will not be moved by tale-bearers, whisperers, or false accusers, nor can be perverted by any misinformation.

Living & Loving to Please God

/ Dennis Griffith / 5 Comments

Steve Brown, professor at Reformed Theological Seminary and president of Key Life Network, penned a marvelous word picture of the motive and expression of a life gripped by God’s grace:

When I became a Christian, two things happened. I got saved, and I got loved.  I got loved so deeply that it still amazes me when I think about it. Because I got loved so deeply, I want to please the One who loved me that much. I may not always please him – sometimes I even run in the other direction, because his love can really hurt.  I may chafe against pleasing him; I may not even speak to him. But I’ll tell you something: I want to please him, and when I don’t please him, it hurts. Now if I really want to please him, I must know what pleases him. I find that out by reading the Word and listening to his commandments. When I know what he wants, I want what he wants. Love does that to you.  But I must know what he wants. That is why we must never soften the teaching of the Law of God. Holiness is a very important teaching as long as it is given in the context of God’s love.

~ from When Being Good Isn’t Good Enough

A Basic Quiet Time Plan

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

OK. You sit down in a quiet place, Bible in hand – or at least on the table in front of you. You really mean it this time. You are going to begin having regular “Quiet Times”.  But then the practical questions come to mind: How do I do this? What am I supposed to do?  Is that all there is to it?

Been there, done that.  And been there and NOT done that.  I didn’t know what to do, so I didn’t do anything.

There are so many different ways to approach personal devotional time that sometimes the whole idea can seem simultaneously appealing and daunting. At other times it can feel stale – and even boring.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, let me suggest a solid and diverse plan that I ran across some time ago.  I do not recall where I found it, so I cannot give proper credit. But I have found this plan provides a good foundation and flexibility.

***

Step One: BIBLE STUDY – Goal: To understand the truth

First: Slowly read a paragraph or chapter 3-4 times. When a thought or phrase or word captures your attention, pause for a moment and thank God for it.

Then: Write down answers to any one of the following sets of questions. Don’t try to do them all (though you may mix questions from different sets).

Set #1.

1. What do these verses teach me about God?
2. What do these verses teach me about myself (or mankind in general or believers)?
3. How do these verses point me to Jesus as Savior?
4. List examples to follow or avoid, commands to obey, or promises to claim

Set #2.

1. Write down the key verse or thought that impressed you.
2. Write the verse out in your own words.
3. Make sure you look at the context. What is the thought just before the verse and just after?
4. Give 2-3 reasons it impressed you.

Set #3.

1. What was beautiful about this verse?
2. What surprised you about this verse?
3. To what in this verse do you need to give more thought?
4. What didn’t you understand?
5. How does the verse connect to your life and/or the life of your church?

Step Two: MEDITATION – Goal: To drive the truth down into your heart

First: Write out one or two (at most!) of the main truths you got out of your Bible study.

Then: For each truth, write out the answers to each of these questions:

  • If you have little time, just answer the following:

1. “How would I be different if this truth caught fire in my inner most being?”
2. “Why is God showing me these particular things today?”

  • If you have more time:
  1. Adoration: How can I praise God or Christ for what this reveals about him? (Think of at least 2 or 3)
  2. Confession: What wrong behavior, harmful emotions, false attitudes result in me when I forget he is like this? (Think of at least 2 or 3)
  3. Thanksgiving: Thank God that you are saved by grace through Jesus, not by your performance. How can this grace in Christ help you overcome the sins you just confessed?
  4. Supplication: What do I need to become and do in light of this truth? Ask him for it!

Step Three: PRAYER – Goal: To commune with God and ask Him to work out His purposes in the world and in your life.

First: Pray especially for the things that came out of your meditation.

Then:

  • Pray through a prayer list of things to ask God for regularly.
  • Praise and thank him for the things you saw today.
  • Confess sins that were brought to your attention today.
  • New items for supplication you saw today (add some to your prayer list).
  • Pray for former items on your prayer list: for family, for church, for friends, for world, for self.

Suggested passages to start:

  • Psalm 1
  • Psalm 4
  • Psalm 8
  • Psalm 19
  • Psalm 62:1-2, 5-7
  • Psalm 103
  • Psalm 106 (particularly verses 28-31

Please Note that while this is a good pattern for personal devotions, it is simply a suggestion. By no means is this the RIGHT plan. If you have something that works for you, keep at it.  I post this simply because I know there are many who get stuck right out of the gate, not knowing what to do.

For a .pdf of this plan, click: Basic Quiet Time Plan

Sabbath Rest: The Above All Commandment

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Like many people, I get easily wearied by many of the Sabbath debates. What can you do? What can’t you do?  While not unimportant, these questions miss the point.

Jesus told us:

“Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2.27)

In other words, Sabbath is a gift made or established by God for us. True, it is for God’s glory, and is therefore to be kept holy. (Exodus 20.8) But we must remember that our greatest good is wrapped up in God’s glory.  And as John Piper reminds us: “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him.”

God gave us the gift of the Sabbath as a means that we might be satisfied in him and thereby glorify him.

Sadly, the debate seems to revolve around polarized positions, with contemporary Pharisees on the one side and supposed free spirited antinomians on the other.  The Pharisee says: “Do”, or mostly “Don’t Do”.  The antinomian (which means “against Law”) holds to the notion that he can do as he pleases, and has no obligation.  The one squeezes the life out of the gift. The other, perhaps unwittingly, responds to God’s gift by saying: “No Thanks”.

In an article from Christianity Today magazine, Kevin Emmert winsomely makes a case for Sabbath observation.  Emmert rightly describes it as a spiritual discipline of resting.  And he acknowledges that this notion somehow seems antithetical to both our spiritual growth and God’s glory:

It is difficult, and ironic, to imagine rest as the most transformative element in the Christian life. For evangelicals especially, transformation and sanctification are closely linked to activity. We appropriately begin with the idea that our works do not merit justification (being declared righteous by God). We can do nothing to earn our salvation. But most of us imagine we must play an active role in our sanctification, the ongoing process of becoming more like Christ. Sanctification, we assume, involves work and effort on our part.

This is good news to evangelical ears. We like activities. We conduct Bible studies, participate in small groups, and attend prayer meetings. We engage in worship services and outreach. We like inspirational books that teach us how to become better Christians. We have a sense of duty that compels us to evangelize and demonstrate Christ’s love to those around us. Indeed, these activities are good and find their foundation in biblical teachings.

And this is precisely why we find it so difficult to imagine rest as the most transformative feature of the Christian life.

Yet Emmert convincingly contends that this discipline, perhaps more than any other, and certainly no less than any other, provides the greatest spiritual benefits:

Why is the Sabbath so important? After all, it’s a command to do nothing; it requires no activity or effort. And that may be precisely the point.

This “above all” command encourages us to trust in God in a way that no other activity can. So much more could be accomplished by adding another day of labor, but the Sabbath requires us to trust that God will provide for all our needs and that he will continue to manage the world without our help. The Sabbath is a practical reminder that we are completely dependent on God.

It is when we realize our complete dependence upon God that we experience how great a thing it is to have the right to call him “Father”.

Check out Emmert’s short article: The Above All Commandment

5 Suggestion for Receiving Criticism

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

Benjamin Franklin once mused:

“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain… and most fools do.”

I don’t like receiving criticism and, since I am being honest here, I don’t often appreciate it either. I understand that it comes with the territory. I understand that when processed correctly criticism can prove beneficial to my character, competence, and even toward Christ-likeness. But still, I don’t like it.  Everything within me wants to avoid it.  I find myself thinking: “There’s got to be some other way.”

But there is no other way.  There is no life immune from criticism. There is no growth without criticism.

So the question, then, is: How to process criticism well?  How do I learn to benefit from the criticism that I need, while at the same time learn to discard the criticism that comes from those Ben Franklin classifies as “fools”.

Mark Altrogge, at The Blazing Center, offers some helpful hints in a post he titles:  How to Receive Criticism Like a Champ.  Here is the gist of Altrogge’s  five suggestions:

1. If it comes from a believer, view it as a kindness – oil for your head – an act of love.

Ask God to help you receive it and not refuse it.  Or start openly crying, which is embarrassing.  Be a man – be like David – “Let a righteous man strike me; it is a kindness.”

2. Make it easy for people to bring stuff to you.

It’s not easy to talk to someone about their sin or weakness.  Thank them and assure them you’re glad they’d share with you.  (And pray that you really would be glad!)  Then you can hit the trapdoor button to drop them into the cellar.

3. Remember you ARE a sinner.

Hate to break it to you, but you will actually blow it from time to time.  Last I checked, none of us have been completely sanctified yet.  Except for my sister, who I think may have sinned once in her entire lifetime.  But the rest of us will sin.  We’ll blow it.  We don’t do everything perfect.  And even if I’m criticized unjustly for something, there’s plenty of other things I should be criticized and judged for, but won’t be, for Jesus paid for all my sins and failures.

4. There’s almost always some truth in every criticism, even if it’s inaccurate or given poorly.

There may still be something valuable for you to learn.  There’s some reason they are perceiving things this way.  Though Professor Grinchwold did humiliate me, my 3-d fly was kind of dumb.

5. Don’t be wise in your own eyes.

Assume people see things you can’t. We all have blind spots.  There could be something you’re missing.

My thanks to Mark Altrogge for his excellent post, and for reminding us that sometimes wisdom is found through criticism.

As Solomon told us:

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. ~ Proverbs 27.6

Can Mission Become an Idol?

/ Dennis Griffith / 7 Comments

“There is a first-rate commitment to a second-rate mission.” That is what Roger, a leader in global church planting, said as he looked at the rock climbers ascending a cliff in the Alps. Many of us called into ministry feel the same way. Rather than giving our lives to climbing a rock, building a business, or amassing a fortune, we are committed to what really matters; a first-rate mission – advancing the Gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ.

But what if we’re wrong?

Roger spent decades serving Christ by planting churches on four continents. But after reflecting on his labors for the kingdom of God, his confession surprised many of us. “I’ve given most of my energy to a second-rate mission as well,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. Church planting is important. But someday that mission will end. My first calling is to live with God. That must be my first commitment.”

What Roger articulated was a temptation that many of us in ministry face. To put it simply, many church leaders unknowingly replace the transcendent vitality of a life with God for the ego satisfaction they derive from a life for God. Before exploring how this shift occurs in church leaders, let me take a step or two backwards and explain how I have seen this tendency within the Christian college students I’ve worked with in recent years.

Is impact everything?

The students I meet with often worry about what awaits them after graduation. This is a reasonable concern for any young adult, but for many of them the worry extends far beyond finding a job with benefits. They fixate, and some obsess, about “making a difference in the world.” They fear living lives of insignificance. They worry about not achieving the right things, or not enough of the right things. Behind all of this is the belief that their value is determined by what they achieve. I’ve learned that when a student asks me, “What should I do with my life?” what he or she really wants to know is, “How can I prove that I am valuable?”

When we come believe that our faith is primarily about what we can do for God in the world, it is like throwing gasoline on our fear of insignificance. The resulting fire may be presented to others as a godly ambition, a holy desire to see God’s mission advance–the kind of drive evident in the Apostle Paul’s life. But when these flames are fueled by fear they reveal none of the peace, joy, or love displayed by Paul and rooted in the Spirit. Instead the relentless drive to prove our worth can quickly become destructive.

Sometimes the people who fear insignificance the most are driven to accomplish the greatest things. As a result they are highly praised within Christian communities for their good works. This temporarily soothes their fear until the next goal can be achieved. But there is a dark side to this drivenness. Gordon MacDonald calls it “missionalism.” It is “the belief that the worth of one’s life is determined by the achievement of a grand objective.”

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