Reformissionary

Aim for Specific Obedience in Specific Instances

In Jerry Bridges' beloved little book, The Pursuit of Holiness (Kindle), he describes in his chapter on the place of personal discipline three questions to ask as you read, study, or meditate on the Scriptures and then explains why being specific is so important.

1. What does this passage teach concerning God's will for a holy life?
2. How does my life measure up to that Scripture; specifically where and how do I fall short? (Be specific; don't generalize.)
3. What definite steps of action do I need to take to obey?

The most important part of this process is the specific application of the Scripture to specific life situations. We are prone to vagueness at this point because commitment to specific actions makes us uncomfortable. But we must avoid general commitments to obedience and instead aim for specific obedience in specific instances. We deceive our souls when we grown in knowledge of the truth without specifically responding to it (James 1:22). 

The Pursuit of Holiness (1978) by Jerry Bridges, pg 104. Bold is mine.

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Out of the Spiritual Ghetto

As we meet today with our local churches, may we remember the redemptive mission God has called us to, and may we refuse to settle for the "spiritual ghetto" when the everyday places of this world need the Christian faith lived out everywhere. 

Steve

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"Being the body of Christ calls up another image, namely, that believers are called to be a kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:9). They are called to redemptive mission in the world. They are called to be channels of God's blessing to a fallen and needy society. Findley Edge explains how this comes about.

There is...a basic difference in the priesthood of the Old Testament and the priesthood of the New Testament. In the Old Testament the priest offered the sacrifice. In the New Testament the priest is the sacrifice! He offers his life to God in behalf of the world which God is seeking to redeem.

This call to redemptive mission is to every believer and is a ministry which extends beyond the church building and into the marketplace. Churches must move their members out of the "spiritual ghetto" into stores, factories, offices, and homes. They must be trained and exhorted to practice their Christian faith wherever they happen to find themselves."

All God's People by David L. Smith, pg 413. Bold is mine. (Interested in the book, click the link and look at used prices. Get this one dirt cheap.)

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Keller on Church: Four Fronts & Three Goals

Keller on Church: Four Fronts & Three Goals

In Tim Keller's book, Center Church, he discusses four ministry fronts...

1. Connecting People to God (through evangelism and worship)
2. Connecting People to One Another (through community and discipleship)
3. Connecting People to the City (through mercy and justice)
4. Connecting People to the Culture (through the integration of faith and work)

Center Church, pg 293

In the same section Keller explains three goals of ministry and their comprehensive scope as taught by Edmund Clowney...

In his biblical-theological work on the church, Clowney speaks of the biblical "goals of ministry" as threefold: (1) we are called to minister and serve God through worship (Rom 15:8-16; 1 Pet 2:9); (2) we are to minister and serve one another through Christian nurture (Eph 4:12-26); and (3) we are to minister and serve the world through witness (Matt 28:18-20; Luke 24:28; Acts 5:32).

Center Church, pg 294

I reproduce these here simply because they are ringing in my ears as I rework some of the groundwork of my church. Keller does such an excellent job keeping things simple, and yet puts them in one of the great new books on the complexities of church and ministry in our day. This is Keller's great service to the church. If you don't have Center Church, get it (WTS | Amazon | Kindle).

If you have a nice, short list like some Keller gives to explain the church, I'd love to see some in the comments. Or feel free to blog about it and share a link here. 

Also, please check out my Tim Keller Resources page.

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Spiritual Disciplines: Abstinence & Engagement

In Dallas Willard's classic book, The Spirit of the Disciplines (Kindle), he gives two lists of "main disciplines." I find it helpful for me to review some of my favorite books on the disciplines when I need spiritual renewal. Not all books and teaching on the disciplines float my boat, but this one adds some interesting insight to disciplines I tend to ignore. I don't agree with everything he says in the book, but this is worth checking out. I'm reading through his explanation of each of the disciplines below.

Disciplines of Abstinence

• Solitude
• Silence
• Fasting
• Frugality
• Chastity
• Secrecy
• Sacrifice

Disciplines of Engagement 

• Study
• Worship
• Celebration
• Service
• Prayer
• Fellowship
• Confession
• Submission

Dallas Willard in The Spirit of the Disciplines, p158. I have a 1988 copy and the one linked is newer. 

What are your thoughts on the disciplines? Helpful books? Unhelpful or helpful disciplines listed here or ignored here? Would love your feedback. Also feel free to engage with me on Twitter: @SteveKMcCoy.

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No Discovery Disillusions Him About Me

What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it--the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters.

This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort--the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates--in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.

J.I. Packer in Knowing God, pp 41-42.

Smile at the Storm

Though dark be my way, since He be my Guide,
'Tis mine to obey, tis His to provide
By prayer let me wrestle, and He will perform,
With Christ in the vessel I smile at the storm.

John Newton, Olney Hymns, from "Begone Unbelief" as quoted in Timothy Keller's Walking With God Through Pain And Suffering -- also find it as played by Indelible Grace, though the quote is slightly different

Prayer & Promise

Many a saint,
by prayer,
hath sucked the breast of a promise,
and then fell asleep by Divine contentment
in the bosom of God.

John Flavel in "Preparations for Suffering"
(The Works of John Flavel, Vol VI, pg 65, format mine)

Wear Out Or Rust Out

George Whitefield, on this day, September 30, 1770, woke at 2am with an the beginning of breathing problems that he suffered from for some time and thought was asthma. He decided to take 2-3 days off of preaching to recover. Then soon after decided it would be better to preach that day. "A good pulpit sweat today may give me relief. I shall be better after preaching."

Richard Smith, his assistant, responded, "I wish you would not preach so often, sir."

Whitefield: "I would rather wear out than rust out."

He sat up in bed, praying. When finished, he went back to sleep for an hour and then awoke at 4am barely able to breathe. That morning George Whitefield died, fighting for each breath, until he met his Savior face to face.