Resentment and Forgiveness - Part 2

This week's audio message:

Resentment and Forgiveness - Part 2

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Resentment and Forgiveness - Part 1 (Transcript)

One of my favorite quotes is from a fella named Malachy McCourt which goes like this:

“Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

Let me say that again:

“Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

Isn’t that great?

Resentment, or bitterness, or unforgiveness, is destructive, bodily, mentally, and most important, spiritually.

And in this day and age, I don’t know of anyone who would really dispute the health aspects of unforgiveness. You don’t have to be a Bible-believer, as I obviously am, to understand the detrimental effects of unforgiveness.

Toxic Effects of Resentment

The toxic effects of unforgiveness on our body/mind systems are clinically documented as well. Unforgiveness:

-distresses the central nervous system;
-stresses the circulatory system;
-stresses the muscular-skeletal system;
-stresses the glandular (endocrine and lymphatic) systems; and
-depresses the immune system.

One expert named McInnis put it this way,

“Unforgiveness distresses my central nervous system by harboring such feelings as irritability, nervousness, anxiety, hostility, anger, resentment and depression.

“Its distress constricts my heart rate’s variability, a crucial measure of nervous system health, as well as my cardiovascular system’s flexibility. It also disrupts the harmony of my brain waves, making me less able to think clearly and to make good decisions.

“In addition to fostering cardiovascular inflexibility, unforgiveness distresses my circulatory system by increasing blood pressure, heart rate and arterial wall pressure.

“Unforgiveness distresses my muscular-skeletal system by increasing forehead muscle tension, thereby producing headaches, and by also producing other symptoms: stomach aches, muscle and joint aches, dizziness, and tiredness.

“Unforgiveness distresses my glandular system via unproductive adrenaline rushes in support of fight or flight responses. When neither of these responses occurs to utilize this energy boost, it dissipates by agitating my other body systems.

“As my unforgiveness invokes all of the foregoing mental, emotional and physical strain, it simultaneously depresses the ability of my immune system to ward off both acute and chronic disease.”

Now this should come as no surprise when we look at what God has to say about forgiveness.

Some Scriptural Wisdom

And as an introduction to the Biblical view of this subject, I just want to do a survey of some Scriptures that deal with this subject, make some general observations, and then in a later message, offer some Biblical help in this area.

In listing those things which are common to the ungodly, in Rom. 1:29-31, Paul writes this:

“...sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving...”

Now that's some pretty bad stuff, isn't it? But do you know what's next on Paul's list, there in verse 31?

"Unforgiving."

A similar list occurs in 2 Timothy 3:2,3.

“For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

Ah, but Ephesians 4:32 injects some life and breath into this unforgiveness situation. It says,

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you."

Just as God in Christ forgave us? Yes, Ephesians 1:7 says,

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

Forgiveness of what sins? All of them. He has forgiven us of all our sins. Are there any sins of others that we may not forgive? Of course not. Again, Col. 1:14 says,

“...in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” And again, that's all of them.

And so it's reasonable for God to say to us, as He does in Col. 3:13,

“...bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also.”

Now I don't want this to be one of those “beat the sheep over the head with their duty” messages. I would contend that you already know your duty in forgiving others.

Yet you may not even really recognize that you are harboring resentment. Or you may recognize it, but have problems forgiving others.

And so, in two more messages in this three-part series, I want us to talk about what forgiveness really is, how to forgive, what hinders forgiveness, and so on.

But let me give you a preview by simply saying this. Forgiveness is one side of a coin. The other side of the same coin is Love. And love is the fruit of the Spirit, without which we are nothing, 1 Cor 13 says.

Pretty strong language, isn’t it? But we have love, shed about in our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God.

Next time we’ll talk about tapping into that rich store of Love.

Part 2
Part 3

Resentment and Forgiveness - Part 1

This week's audio message:

Resentment and Forgiveness - Part 1

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

The Subtle Legalism Of Dominionism (Transcript)

Before we get rolling today, I want to stress that this is a very introductory talk about Dominionism.

Dominionism itself, which I consider a false teaching, is a very large subject. Much has been written on it, and I don’t mean to get to heavily into the many tentacles of Dominionism itself.

I want to confine my comments to the legalism that is inherent in Dominionism. And so I’d like to start with two definitions. The definition of Legalism, as I’ll be using it today, and the definition of Dominionism, as I’ll be using it today.

Defining Legalism As Used Here

First, legalism. Legalism can have many meanings, and usually, in the Church, simply means requiring something or forbidding something that the Bible doesn’t require or forbid. For example, requiring a suit and tie for men, or forbidding jewelry for women. Those kinds of things that some churches delight in burdening their people with, and some churches cry, “Legalism!”

But that’s not the kind of legalism I want to talk about here. I want to talk about the kind of legalism that imposes laws and commands of Scripture, or (and get this please) SUPPOSED laws and commands of Scripture, on Christians, as a means of gaining God’s acceptance, or favor, or love.

In other words, God won’t really love you, or accept you, or favor you, even if you’re a born-again Christian, unless you do this and this, and don’t do this or this.

That’s the kind of legalism which I call Performance-based Christianity. And considering the size of the audience listening to this, I know there are some of you who are thinking, “Well of course! Isn’t that what the Christian life is all about is the do’s and don’t of the Bible? After all, isn’t our ultimate goal in the Christian life to obey and not sin? What’s wrong with Performance-based Christianity?”

Two Problems With Performance-Based Living

Well, there are two problems with Performance-based Christianity:

1. First, it’s simply not Biblical. The Bible continuously points us to the Lord Jesus and His New Covenant, in which He has not only paid the price for our sins, all of them, but has given us the gift of His righteousness, has made us new creatures in Christ, and has freed us from the condemnation of laws and rules.

So now we are free to get close to Jesus, without condemnation, and fellowship with Him, and commune with Him, and thus be filled with His Spirit, and so follow and obey Him, not in order to gain is love and favor, but because we love Him and desire to follow and obey Him.

We treasure His commands, because they reveal His beautiful heart to us, and let us know when we are veering off and walking by the flesh, so that we can get back in close communion with Him, where we belong are really satisfied.

Do you see the difference between Performance-based living, and Spiritual living?

So the first problem with Performance-based living, again, is it’s not Biblical.

2. The second problem with Performance-based living is that it just doesn’t work.

If we focus on our Performance to gain God’s love and favor, we will invariably fail. Because we are relying on what we DO, instead of on what He has already done. We are relying on Law, instead of Grace. This quenches the Holy Spirit, who wants us to live by faith in what Christ has already done, and when we quench the Holy Spirit, we lose the very power and internal motivation to follow the Lord’s ways, and we fall on our face.

And if we love the Lord, when we fall on our face, we shy away from Him, because we’re ashamed, and we doubt His love, and when we shy away from Him, we are even more prone to walk by the flesh, and the bad cycle continues.

So the second problem with Performance-based living is that it just doesn’t work.

Defining Dominionism As Used Here

Now, having defined legalism for our purpose today, let’s define Dominionism or Dominion theology:

Dominion theology basically stems from three basic beliefs:

1.Satan, through the fall of Adam, has taken over man’s rightful dominion over the earth.

2.The Church is God’s instrument to take back dominion from Satan.

3.Jesus can’t return until we, the Church, has regained control of the earth, having dominion in every area of worldly life, including social institutions, and government. This has been called such things as “reigning over” or “ruling over” the nations, in the name of Christ.

Now many people think this is a new movement. And with the amazing communication tools we have today – first the printing press, then radio, then TV, and now the Internet – with the amazing communication tools we have today, we are seeing a spread of this false doctrine at an amazing pace.

Contrasting Dominionism With The Bible

Now let’s contrast this dominionism with Biblical teaching about the true kingdom of God, and then we’ll address the legalism involved.

Jesus said in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world”. You may remember that Jesus said this to Pontius Pilate, after Pilate asked Him if He was the King of the Jews. And when Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” the emphasis was on “MY”.

In other words, He distinguished His kingdom from all earthly kingdoms, and we know from many Scriptures that the biggest difference is simply that His kingdom is a spiritual one. Or to put it another way, it’s a kingdom which reigns in the hearts of those who have been born again.

That’s why Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed the kingdom of God is within you.”

In other words, the kingdom of God is internal. Now, I am aware that there are some who say that what Jesus meant was that the kingdom of God is AMONG you, or IN YOUR MIDST – in other words that it’s sort of “all over the place”. But this is a ridiculous interpretation, which takes the simple point out of context and twists it to mean what it doesn’t mean. The whole point of Jesus is that the kingdom of God in this age is an invisible kingdom.

Now let me be quick to say that this spiritual kingdom of God in the hearts of believers WILL have visible effects from time to time. When a true believer has God in him working to will and to do His good pleasure, as the Scripture says – in other words, as Christ lives out His life through us, there will be things coming from our lives that can be seen. But do you see how far that is from the Dominionist idea that we will take dominion over the earth?

If the way is narrow, and few there be that find it, as Jesus said, then the future for the Church is surely a kingdom within many kingdoms, a spiritual kingdom operating in the midst of worldly kingdoms.

We are not destined to take dominion over the earth and all its institutions. But this is not bad news, or pessimism. This is the optimism of the spiritual kingdom of God.

When we realize that God IS working in us believers, that we ARE His workmanship, that He is CAUSING us to walk in His ways, as the prophesies of the New Covenant had promised, that He IS building His church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, we have a great confidence in the plan of God.

But the plan of God is not to subdue the nations in the physical absence of Christ Himself. When He returns the nations will be subdued, but until then, we are sojourners and pilgrims (as Peter says in 1 Pet. 2:11), temporary residents, even while we are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people...”.

So Where's The Legalism?

OK, now what about the legalism.

Dominionists always divide the Church into those who are active in the takeover of the earth, and those who are not.

It's About Power

And they are very active, though often under the radar, in recruiting whoever they can to accomplish the purpose. It may be government, business, educational institutions, think tanks, even other religions, but with one common theme: power!,.

Whereas God said, “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,” the theme of Dominionism over and over is, “gain the power”. I don’t have the time now to develop this theme, but the result is this:

Dominionism will always have authoritative leaders, often calling themselves Apostles, sometimes Prophets, but always exercising strong authority over the churches and people whom they continuously drive to “expand the kingdom”.

Sometimes it’s in the form of evangelism, sometimes in the form of social good deeds such as fighting poverty or disease, sometimes it’s in the form of the grasping of raw power, through political affiliations and unscriptural yoking with unbelievers.

Invariably, the importance of Biblical truth takes a back seat, and the emphasis is on “expanding the kingdom”, that is, the visible takeover of every aspect of society and power structures like government and other organizations.

In many ways, this is a repeat of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but without the centralization of power in a single city.

But the results in legalism are very similar. Christianity is often redefined as those who are part of the movement.

Great emphasis is placed on "discipleship", but a form of discipleship that conforms to the authority of the so-called Apostles and Prophets. These self-proclaimed Apostles and Prophets regularly seek control over the lives of their congregations and organizations, sometimes actually choosing whom they should marry or where they should give their money, other times exercising cult-like mind control through various forms of “shepherding” or “discipling”, which puts these members on a constant guilt trip of “expanding the kingdom”.

Maturity, in these groups, is not seen as a growing understanding of Christ Himself, and a deep spiritual relationship with Him, and an understanding and belief in the eternal heavenly things of Scripture.

Maturity is seen as being discipled to “expand the kingdom”, and discipling others to “expand the kingdom” in or to reach the nations in order to rule the nations. All in the name of Christ, of course.

And so we come full circle to Performance-based Christianity, the legalism that Dominionism imposes on its followers. “Good” Christians have their nose to the grindstone of “expanding the kingdom” and “bad” Christians don’t. God really loves and favors those who are “expanding the visible power-gaining kingdom”, and those who aren’t tithing to it, and working hard for it, and praying for it, and recruiting others to do the same, well...let’s just say, they better get on board.

And so while the Dominionism pushes on, there are the bodies of many, leaders and followers alike, who are scattered along the road, wounded and disillusioned, because they failed, fell into moral sin, or simply woke up to the unbiblical nature of “expanding an earthly kingdom of Christ” without Christ, instead of seeking first the spiritual kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Such is always the result of Legalism. Even if the legalist thinks he’s doing pretty well, it only results in pride. But more often it ends in failure, disillusionment, and discouragement.

Please, friends, steer clear of that. Seek first the internal spiritual kingdom of God, and understand the unconditional grace by which He has made you His beloved.

Draw near to Him, commune with Him, be continually filled with His Word, and His Spirit, walk by the Spirit, and God will do His work in and through you, and you don’t have to answer to the marching agenda of any so-called Apostles.

The Subtle Legalism Of Dominionism

This week's audio message:

The Subtle Legalism Of Dominionism

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

3 Ways To Fuel Your Sense of Wonder

Andromeda Galaxy
1. Look At The Heavens

I love pondering the magnitude of the Universe. The gigantic size and beauty of Space.

I love standing out on my back patio at night, maybe with a wind blowing through our huge maple trees, and just looking up at the stars and the moon and contemplating the vastness of what God accomplished when He said, “Let there be”. And there was.

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”

When I was a new Christian back in the '70's, I visited the Planetarium in my home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I've forgotten the regular Planetarium show that night, where you sit back in your seat, looking up at a huge white ceiling, and some astronomy lesson is projected out on the ceiling “sky”. I'm sure it was a good presentation.

But I still remember vividly, some thirty years later, the experience I had in the foyer of the Planetarium, as I was looking at some blown-up photographs of the sky, taken through high-power telescopes. Huge expanses of outer Space with too many stars to count printed on my brain, and I was struck with the awesomeness of the God Whom I'd just come to know.

Tears came as I realized that this awesome God, this Creator who cast not just millions of stars, but billions of galaxies out into Space by His Word alone, had created a little planet called Earth, and had come here in love, to give His only begotten Son, to save me...and you, from our sins.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, it's important to not just take time to smell the roses, but take time to inhale the aroma of a God who by His Word made the star Antares.

Antares is a giant star, so much bigger than our sun that if it was placed where our sun is, 93 million miles away, the Earth would actually be inside of the star!

And Antares is just one of 500 billion stars in our galaxy called the Milky Way.

From America there is only one other galaxy that can be seen at all with the naked eye. That galaxy is called Andromeda, and is 2 million light-years away. That means that light, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, would take 2 million years to reach Earth.

And yet that's a very very short distance in Space.

Until recently in human history, Andromeda was just thought to be another star. But with powerful telescopes, we came to know that Andromeda was actually a galaxy(!) twice the size of our Milky Way, and contains hundreds of billions of stars.

And the Milky Way and Andromeda are just 2 of 100 billion galaxies, each with billions of stars.

Which brings me to the second time I got tears in my eyes at the Lord's creation of the heavens:

I think it was the early 90's when National Geographic published some photos taken by the Hubble telescope. The Hubble is a very powerful telescope which was put into Space orbit, so that the earth's atmosphere wouldn't interfere with or distort what the telescope could see.

By the way, a side note. Did you know that if you took a globe -- you know, a globe like you might have at home, that spins around and let us see the maps of the world in their actual shapes -- if you took that globe and sprayed a coat of varnish on it, that coat of varnish would be the equivalent of about the actual thickness of the atmosphere on the earth, the air we breathe? Isn't that amazing?

Anyway, back to the National Geographic photos from the Hubble telescope.

One of the sets of pictures showed a part of Space which we had previously only seen as a black empty spot of Space from our Earth telescopes. Then another picture showed that same black spot that we previously thought was empty, and Hubble had shown us that that black empty spot of Space actually contained whole new beautiful astounding galaxies of stars and worlds that we didn't even have a clue existed. I was stunned, and the immense power and majesty of the Lord who became our Friend, once again shook my heart with gratitude.

Philip Yancey tells the story of how he was visiting a refugee camp in Somalia, just below the equator. He writes,

“I had spent all day interviewing relief workers about the megadisaster of the moment. Kurdistan, Rwanda, Sudan, Ethiopia -– place names change, but the spectacle of suffering has a dreary sameness: mothers with shriveled, milkless breasts, babies crying and dying, fathers foraging for firewood in a treeless terrain.

“After three days of hearing tales of human misery, I could not lift my sights beyond that refugee camp situated in an obscure corner of an obscure country on the Horn of Africa. Until I saw the Milky Way. It abruptly reminded me that the present moment did not comprise all of life. History would go on. Tribes, governments, and whole civilizations may rise and fall, trailing disaster in their wake, but I dared not confine my field of vision to the scenes of suffering around me. I needed to look up, to the stars.”

The Lord asked Job, in the midst of complaining about his suffering, “Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in the seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?”

Amazingly, Job was helped by these somewhat sarcastic questions from God.

Job had been focusing on earthly things, as horrible as they were. And the Lord lifted his eyes to the heavens. And Job was changed.

I'm changed too, when I contemplate the heavens.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

Don't ever lose your sense of wonder at the God who created you. Step outside, day or night, and look up at the heavens. I don't mean to be spooky about it, but just relax, just wait and let the heavens declare His glory.

It will fuel the sense of wonder that God wants you to have.

2. Look At The attributes of God.

The attributes of God could make up a hundred other messages, so time permits only a taste here. I would recommend A.W. Tozer's book, The Knowledge of the Holy, if you'd like to delve into the attributes of God more.

But just to whet your appetite for this wonderful way to fuel your sense of wonder, let me mention some things about our Lord that we sometimes might not think of every day.

It's so important to think rightly about God, but we have to start with an understanding that God is both knowable and unknowable.

He has revealed Himself both in the creation, and especially in His written Word, and most especially through Jesus Christ.

But beyond what is revealed to us is a vastness that we must rest in never fully understanding. Deuteronomy 29:29 says simply, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever...”

We should learn about, and meditate on, and study the Lord. But not with speculation. Not with "making up" things about the Lord that He has not revealed to us. We should never go beyond what is revealed to make a God of our own making. He has told us much about Himself, and that should content us.

For example, we know that God is one. He is one God, the only God. Yet He is three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We call this the Trinity, but that word isn't in the Scriptures. We merely use it as a shorthand for the amazing truth that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there is only one God. We may rest in that mind-boggling truth and worship Him accordingly.

We learn from Scripture also that God is self-existing, that He was not created, but is the Creator of all things. We learn that He always was, that He is eternal.

We learn He is unchangeable, what the theologians call immutable. Aren't we glad for that?

The false God's of ancient Rome and Greece were like men, changing their minds and ways at the drop of a celestial hat. Never predictable, always capricious. And so, to be feared, not for their goodness and justice, but because they were like heavenly Three Stooges, slapping the faces of those they felt like, and poking the eyes of anyone who got their emotions riled.

If our true God is to be feared at all, it's precisely because He never changes.

He is always true and good and just.

And yet He has deemed to love us, His children, with a deep love that's as unchangeable as He is. And so we can rely on His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.

We learn that God is omniscient, all-knowing. Is that not a comfort to us? It may be a little scary that we can never hide from Him in the slightest. Yet if He loves us (and He does), how comforting to know that He has already seen our sins from the past and all the way to the end of our lives, and has forgiven them.

How comforting to know that there is no problem, no situation in our lives that He doesn't know from beginning to end, and because He is also omnipotent, all-powerful, there is nothing too hard for Him. Only a God like that can work all things together for good to those who love Him. That's His promise in Rom. 8:28, isn't it?

I'm mixing a lot of God's attributes together in this little "taste", but consider the awesome fact that He is everywhere, we say omnipresent, and yet He dwells in you, if you are a born-again Christian.

How silly in a way to even ask, “How is that possible?” Feel free to ponder that for the rest of your life, but if you can fully explain it, you will be the first. He simply hasn't revealed those details. But He has revealed the truth of it. Let that fuel your wonder! Christ in you, the hope of glory!

I could go on and on, with the self-sufficiency of God, the mercy of God, the goodness of God, the justice of God, the grace of God, the love of God, the holiness of God, all worthy subjects to learn and think about.

But I'll close this part with a short statement about the sovereignty of God.

Because all His other attributes would not have much impact if He had no ability to bring about what He wants. But He does.

Psalm 115:3 says with pure simplicity, “He does whatever He pleases.”

So simple, yet it's the foundation for all the rest of the creation, from beginning to end, and it's the foundation for your life. This God we love has a plan. And it's a good one, a perfect one. And He has sovereignly chosen you and me to be a part of it, and He will bring it to pass. And it will bring Him glory.

Don't ever think the Universe is too slippery for God, that somehow He can't get His arms around it, and things are falling apart that He can't remedy. He can put any Humpty Dumpty that He chooses together again. Nothing is beyond His scope, nothing is outside of His plan.

And if you really contemplate that sovereignty of God, you will fuel your sense of wonder at the amazing Lord who chose to love and save you, and become your Friend and your Beloved through Jesus Christ.

And it started by grace, and it's still by grace, from start to finish.

3. Look At Lives Changed By Christ.

I love biographies. Especially Christian biographies. I love to see God's history played out in the lives of people.

You'd think I'd get used to seeing God change lives, but I never do. I believe one of the most important ways to fuel your sense of wonder, is to read or hear how God has changed the heart of His children.

I'll close with one of my favorite stories. You may have heard it. It comes from the words of the late Corrie Ten Boom, whose family hid Jews from the Nazis during World War II, in Holland.

Corrie was captured by the Nazis and was sent to a horrible concentration camp, but her life was amazingly spared by God, and she became a world-traveling witness to Jesus Christ. I loved her dearly, though I never met her.

Here are just a few words of hers, showing the change that Christ can bring in a life, and hopefully fueling your sense of wonder at our great Lord:

"It was in a church in Munich where I was speaking in 1947 that I saw him--a balding heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat, the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones.

"Memories of the concentration camp came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment of skin.

"Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland. This man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent.

"Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: "A fine message, Fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!"

"It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

"'You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,' he was saying. 'I was a guard there. But since that time,' he went on, 'I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein' -- again the hand came out-- 'will you forgive me?'

"And I stood there--and could not. Betsie had died in that place--could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

"It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

"For I had to do it--I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. 'If you do not forgive men their trespasses,' Jesus says, 'neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses.'

"Still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. 'Jesus, help me!' I prayed silently. 'I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.'

"And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

"'I forgive you, brother!' I cried. 'With all my heart!'

"For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then."

Don't lose your sense of wonder. Take advantage of these ways to fuel your sense of wonder:

Look at the heavens.
Look at the attributes of God.
And look at lives changed by Christ.

3 Ways To Fuel Your Sense of Wonder

This week's audio message:

3 Ways To Fuel Your Sense of Wonder

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Is The Book of James Against Grace?

This week's audio message:

Is The Book of James Against Grace?

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Sad Result of A False Teaching

The story might not make me as angry if I didn't have a son who is 14 years old at this time.

Two days ago, 16-year-old Neil Beagley, of Gladstone, Oregon, died.

He died of a urinary blockage that medical authorities say was "easily treatable". As the blockage progressed, urea increased in his bloodstream, and his heart finally gave out.

But why should he have died if his condition was easily treatable?

Because of a false doctrine.

The false doctrine says that it's wrong to seek medical help when sick, because healing of our bodies was included in the Atonement, and by faith we can "claim our healing".

Not only is it a false doctrine, but it is a well-demonstrated FOOLISH doctrine.

After I became a Christian in 1976, I "kept an eye" on a church in Northern Indiana. It was officially called Faith Assembly, but was commonly known as The Glory Barn.

I lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a couple of hours away, but had a Christian Aunt and Uncle who lived near the Glory Barn. They told stories about the goings on at the Glory Barn, since they had acquaintances who attended it.

The stories included dead members, often kids and babies.

The Pastor, Hobart Freeman, was a brilliant man with a Master of Theology degree from Southern Baptist Seminary, and a Doctor of Theology degree from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. He became a professor at Grace Seminary, and even published a couple of scholarly books on the Old Testament with Moody Press.

But he was asked to leave his professorship, when he fell under the teachings of E.W. Kenyon, Kenneth Hagin, and other "Word of Faith" teachers. He started what became The Glory Barn.

D.R. McConnell, in his book A Different Gospel: Biblical and Historical Insights into the Word of Faith Movement, writes this sad result years later:

"For sheer volume of death and tragedy, none can match the record of Hobart Freeman, pastor of Faith Assembly, Wilmot, Indiana. Estimates of the number of preventable deaths associated with Faith Assembly itself are as high as 90."

And that doesn't count the deaths reported at other congregations Freeman "ministered" to throughout the country.

Ironically, Hobart Freeman himself died in 1984 from bronchial pneumonia and congestive heart failure, complicated by an ulcerated gangrenous leg.

This was just two weeks before he was to be tried in court for negligent homicide.

True to his "doctrine of demons" he refused to see a doctor.

His wife left his suit on his bed for months, certain that he would re-appear at any time.

He didn't.

And neither will 16-year-old Neil Beagley, whose family in Oregon carries on the evil doctrine, while prancing faith healers slap people on the forehead and shout, "Out, in the name of Jesus!"

But they only disgrace His name. To the Church. To the World.

Being A Protestant Monk...Sometimes (Transcript)

So much has been written over the years about how the Church should be, how it should meet, and what's wrong with the way we do things.

Now, I'm speaking primarily of the Church in the United States, because that's where I live. And some of what I say will apply in other areas of the world, and some of it probably won't. But I hope to bring in some spiritual principles that will apply to every Christian everywhere.

I've had my own complaints with various church practices and states of being. And I admit to sort of swaying back and forth from time to time, on the one hand from being too picky and perfectionist about the Church, and on the other hand saying, “Oh well, there's no perfect church, so just bite your tongue and don't say anything.”

Neither of these extremes are probably biblical, and they're certainly not satisfying. But what's at the bottom of the What's-Wrong-With-The-Church conversation? Why is it always a discussion? Or in some cases, why is it forbidden to discuss, as though one were being disloyal and merely critical?

Legalism An Ongoing Problem

Now, if you have followed my writings at all, you know that I think a big problem with the Church has always been legalism, the idea that our individual performance is not only what's ultimately important, but that our individual performance is how we earn God's love and favor.

And you know that I believe that this legalism stifles the spirituality of the church, because it doesn't honor the radical grace of God by which we are not only saved initially, but kept and favored by the Lord Who loves us, even when our performance falls short. And that when we DO understand this wonderful grace, it actually encourages us to follow the Lord willingly and lovingly. Which furthermore is the desire of our own spirit, because we have been given a new nature, indeed made a new creation who loves Christ and hates sin in our heart of hearts.

Fellowship With Christ Revolution

But as I've written elsewhere, this grace is not for it's own sake, but that we might have a close fellowship with Jesus Christ. That His very life might flow through us, as we commune with Him, rest in Him, and think His thoughts.

And it's this fellowship with Christ where I believe we have the most opportunity to revolutionize the Church. It's this fellowship which is the fountain from which flows the water of a spiritual life. To switch metaphors, It's this fellowship which forms the tree from which the Lord produces the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, etc.

And that's why I believe this fellowship with Christ is where we have the most opportunity to revolutionize the Church.

Protestantism

Now I should make very clear that I am a Protestant. I believe the Bible teaches that salvation comes completely by grace through faith, and that this comes through the regeneration brought about by the Holy Spirit as He, like the wind, blows wherever He wills, and causes those whom He has chosen before the foundation of the world, to be born again.

I believe the Bible teaches that neither baptism, or any other sacrament, is instrumental in our salvation. I believe the Bible teaches that no good deed, no good work, no following of any law or ritual, has anything to do with our salvation.

I believe the Bible teaches that we are declared righteous, justified, by faith alone in Jesus Christ, through His dying on the cross to pay for our sins, and to give us the free gift of His righteousness. He redeemed us, purchased us, saved us, as a free gift, without our deserving it in any way, and without our doing anything except believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. And even that faith was a gift from God Himself.

Roman Catholicism

I say all that because I strongly disagree with Roman Catholic doctrine, which is, at it's core, a religion of “grace” PLUS works. And Paul the Apostle makes clear that if you add works to Grace, it is no longer Grace (Romans 11:16).

Although God will indeed cause us to do works, good works, by His Spirit in us, and the law that He has put in our hearts and minds, those good works have NO part in gaining or keeping our salvation.

So what I am going to say about being a “sometimes monk” has nothing to do with Roman Catholicism. I hope I've made that clear.

Regenerate Catholics?

However, having said that, I have observed that throughout the history of the Church, there have always been those who obviously loved Jesus Christ. Many were trapped in the religion of Catholicism, which had dominated Church History for hundreds of years until the Reformation in the 1500's.

Yet God broke through, and they “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ”, and they were saved. It's not for me or you to specifically guarantee that any individual was or was not saved, but yet if you are a believer, you may very well have a sense that someone else is likewise a believer, by their language, by their fruit, by their heart and life.

False Doctrine Sidenote

This brings up a sidenote about false doctrine. We speak of some false doctrines as “damnable”. In other words, it is so false as to deny the Gospel, and by it one can't be saved, or may even be misled so far from the truth that they are “damned” by the falsehood. For example, if you were to “evangelize” by going around telling people that if they try their best to follow the Ten Commandments, then God will reward them with salvation, you would be preaching a false Gospel and not only could no one be saved by your teaching, but it's likely that it would be the instrument of their damnation.

Now this is serious business, and I say it because any religion which teaches that works or sacraments are necessary for salvation, have that potential to bring damnation to those who are taught it.

But there is one more factor that has to be recognized, and I take this concept from Paul's letter to the Galatians. Here's the concept: one can be born again, saved by Grace through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, being truly repentant of their sins, and be a true child of God...and THEN be taught false doctrines of legalism, which although potentially harmful, do not nullify the salvation by Grace which these folks have received. Paul calls this “falling from Grace”, not a loss of salvation (that is impossible), but a misunderstanding where Grace is supplemented by meritorious works.

Having taken that side road about false doctrines, let me say that I believe that not only has God had His people, His remnant, throughout Church History, but has had them WITHIN the false religion we call Catholicism.

And within this remnant have been men and women who have not only loved Christ deeply, but have entered into a fellowship with Christ which is mostly foreign to modern-day believers in Protestant churches.

Godly Monk Types

Some modern-day Protestants have “tapped into” these godly men and women, and learned something from them, and have profited greatly.

I hesitate to give examples of specific people in this context, for two reasons:

1. They would readily be considered “heretics” by many of my Protestant brothers and sisters who may be listening today. And while I appreciate the biblical discernment which would cause that reaction, yet I don't want to stifle the ability to glean from those I consider true believers in Christ, some things that would richly bless the lives of today's Protestant believers.

2. The second reason I hesitate to mention specific ancient believers is that some of my hearers may NOT be very discerning, and I wouldn't want to so wholeheartedly endorse anyone as to recommend everything they may have written, since there is every reason to assume that these ancient believers have a mixed bag of docrine, some good, some bad. This is why I took such pains to explain why I am a Protestant.

But though I hesitate to mention these men and women for those reasons, I will mention one for purposes of illustration, and for a base from which to make my simple case for Protestant monkhood.

Brother Lawrence

The man I will mention is known as Brother Lawrence. If you have read The Practice of the Presence of God, you have read Brother Lawrence. You may be surprised to know that he was a Carmelite Monk in a real monastery in the 1600's, in France.

But the theme of his life and writings is exactly what I believe is missing in the lives of countless Protestant believers today, who think that accurate theology, systematized in whatever system they choose, is Life.

It isn't.

“He who has the Son has life, and he who does not have the Son does not have life.” (1 John 5:12) May I add that he who is in close fellowship and communion with the Son has abundant life, and he who is not in close fellowship and communion with the Son does not have abundant life?

Even the Bible, which you know I treasure, if you know me, is not the ultimate source of Life. Jesus told the Pharisees, “You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.” (John 5:39)

So back to Brother Lawrence. What I really like about him, and I've read his book I mentioned many times, is that he was spiritual, but he was practical. By that I mean that, as a monk, he could have told us all that you need to be cloistered away in a monastery retreat to really have spiritual fellowship with Christ, but he didn't.

Practical Spirituality (Oxymoron?)

He understood that the cloister is not Life either. And he gave practical advice -- tested in his own life -- practical advice on how to fellowship with Christ even in the noise of daily life.

Brother Lawrence mostly had kitchen duty among the Carmelites. He spoke much of washing pots and pans. And he spoke much of the sweet communion which he had in the midst of the clanging of pans in the kitchen of his monastery.

And it's this type of practical instruction, yet spiritual instruction, that I would love to see brought to the church in abundance. It's this type of practical Monk-hood that I would love to see Protestants practicing daily.

Bad Contemplativity (Say 10 Times Fast)

There is a fair amount of literature written today about meditation, contemplative prayer, sacramentalism, and such. But too much of it is not only unbiblical, but so strongly tainted with Eastern Mysticism as to be more Buddhist or Hindu than Christian. And people are being led astray to think that spirituality is “blanking out the mind” or “meditating on God” in such a way as to be at “oneness” with all the World, or “tapping into the Universal Mind who is God”, and so forth.

This is not only counter-productive, but guaranteed to lead away from Jesus Christ. It may soothe the nerves, calm the beating heart, and give a warm feeling. But this is not Christ.

Practical Advice

And so I leave you with some practical advice, yet spiritual advice, biblical advice, in being a Protestant Monk...sometimes. By “sometimes”, I mean in your day-to-day life, at least for a time each day, as opposed to moving into a monastery and making it a vocation.

Here we go:

1. Practice the Presence of God throughout the day. Recognize and remind yourself that He is with you always, indeed Christ in you, the hope of glory, if you are a believer in Him. I would highly recommend that you read (with biblical discernment) The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence, for much practical advice on how specifically to develop this mind and heart for fellowship with the Lord.

2. Pray the Scriptures. There are books on this, but just DOING it is quite amazing in itself. The practice is simple, and you want to read the Bible anyway, don't you? In addition to your normal reading, studying, etc., just pick a passage, read it slowly line-by-line, and pray to the Lord something related to that passage, taking care to “listen” as He speaks to your through those sections of the Word of God.

This is one of the most powerful ways to fellowship with the Lord.

3. Meditate. Not to “blank out your mind”. That is utterly unbiblical. But to dwell on those things that are “true...honorable...right...pure...lovely...of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8).

Meditate on the Word, meditate on God Himself, meditate on Jesus and what He did on the cross, meditate on various doctrines, meditate on the Lord's Grace. Meditate on His great amazing love for you. Do you know that understanding the greatness of His love for you is the best way to increase your love for Him? Meditate on that for awhile. Do you know that understanding His goodness is the best way to lead to your own daily repentance? Meditate on that one.

4. Not to be so practical that you think I'm not being spiritual, but don't hesitate to write down a simple plan for these things. You can change the plan tomorrow if you want. You can complicate it more, or simplify it more. You can make a 10-point list to check off, or a 1-point reminder statement for yourself. Don't be burdensome or legalistic about it. Don't be discouraged when you fail to complete your plan for the day. This is a rest-of-our-lives joyous journey.

Just don't think that it will happen without a little planning. Time flies by, and we forget the simple things that lead to drawing near to the Lord.

Be a Protestant Monk, right in your home, or car, or workplace. Or feel free to go out in the woods, or down by the river. You don't need a brown robe and hood. Take some time away from the hustle and bustle and noise.

But also Practice the Presence of God throughout the day. It's really hard at first. But like most things, it gets easier with practice. Just ask Brother Lawrence.

Finally, you may find that when you spend this time in fellowship with Jesus, that it makes it more natural to share Him with others. When His Life flows through you, when your are filled with love for Him, then it's no big deal to tell others what He has done for you.