All to Him I Owe

I want to draw your attention to the word manifold in I Peter 1:6 which says, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.”

The largest stained glass window in the world, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, resides in Resurrection Cemetery, Justice, Illinois. Pickel Studio created this window using over 22,000 square feet of faceted glass. It contains 2,448 panels. Each of the 2,448 panels are individually designed and uniquely different from all the other panels. In describing the panels, we could say that the window has a manifold collection of panels.

God teaches us that the difficulties or trials we face in life are a part of a manifold collection. Each one is unique to the individual and different from the trials that others face. God looks at the unique needs of our life and chooses a trial that is specifically chosen to try our faith.

When trials come, don’t be overwhelmed with the unique trials that God places in your life. He has a special resource to you that is as uniquely designed as your trial is. The Greek word for manifold is found one other time in the book of I Peter. In chapter 4 verse 10, it is used to describe God’s grace. The combination of these two verses using these two words teaches us that God has manifold grace for your manifold trials!

The wonderful message of God’s grace is that in addition to what we pack ourselves to help us think right during trials, God has personally packed a special dose of grace in our bags that can be used when we respond to trials with humility (I Peter 5:6).

I seem to always forget at least one thing when I travel. Sometimes it has been something that is very important like a toothbrush or a belt. Other times it has been an item that just created an inconvenience for me, like headphones or the book I wanted to read. My persistent forgetfulness of items has led me to create a small travel checklist that I keep in my briefcase to help me to remember everything I need and like to have when I travel.

All of us have begun traveling through 2016. We have destinations, expectations, and plans for this trip through the year, and it is essential that we pack correctly for it. I hope that we would all put Biblical thinking about trials, or difficulties, on our packing checklists for this year, because whether or not we’ve planned for them, we will inevitably be met with them this year, in varying degrees. To help us do that, I will be using today’s email and the next two to help us think right when difficulty comes our way.

I Peter 1:6-7 teaches us five things about trials.

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

1. There is no trial so large that it prevents the Christian from experiencing joy. This aspect is found in the phrase “ye greatly rejoice.” As a Christian, we have a fountain of joy through the presence of the Holy Spirit that is disconnected from external stimuli. Regardless of what is happening around us and to us, we can have joy that stems from within.
2. Trials are momentary. They will only last a season. That season may be a week, a month, or even years; but it is only a season.
3. Trials are necessary. The text says, “if need be.” There are some lessons that seem to only be learned through hardship. God is the Master Teacher Who knows not only what we need to learn but how to teach it in a way we will remember.
4. Trials are uncomfortable. God knows the “heaviness” of our difficulties. He is not distant from us in that regard. His knowledge of our uncomfortableness enables Him to be truly compassionate, while doing that which is necessary in our lives.
5. Trials reveal our faith. They have a way of breaking through all the calloused layers of our heart and revealing the true object and quality of our faith.

During a trial, we often consume ourselves with the questions why is this happening and when will it be over. Instead, we should preoccupy ourselves with the questions what is this difficulty revealing about my faith and does my faith praise and honor God?”

Can you pack these five things about thinking right about tries for our trip through 2016? Can we make sure we are asking the right questions when the difficulty comes? Together, I look forward to seeing the way God reveals and develops our faith here at FBC.

This is an excellent article written by Paul Maxwell (Professor at Moody Bible Institute).

______________________________

The modern man has a major branding crisis. Most sum him up in one word: lazy. There are different ways to pronounce the word — dependent, wasteful, inept, ungrateful, complacent, unworthy, unimpressive, undisciplined — all with one root: the failure to do. Avoid work, and aim for the bare minimum.

Cycles of laziness eventually turn into cycles of violence. As our muscle for self-denial in work atrophies through inactivity, our ability to deny ourselves in relationships weakens as well. The seed of abusive inclinations is embedded in the selfishness of our laziness. A man who dishonors himself will eventually dishonor others (Proverbs 18:9).

Male laziness, though, is both misunderstood and underestimated by most. Until we understand laziness, we will never be able to work well. We have tried yelling at and mocking men, and that has not worked often or for long. Instead, let’s look at the complexity of laziness to see the deeper business underneath it and how the gospel heals and empowers lazy men.

There are (at least) five vicious cycles that perpetuate male inactivity. Each highlights a different logic behind our tendency toward laziness and complacency.

1. Inefficient Cycle

Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. When guys are inefficient in their planning, working, spending, and sin-fighting, their constant failure can breed the loud message: “You are not competent enough for life.”

At that point, why not give up and check out? Inefficient priorities and methods are working against men. When other men say, “Keep working,” we hear, “Keep trying the same things that haven’t worked,” and “Live a frustrated and unfulfilling life.” So we cease planning, put off work, and remove ourselves from risk. The demands of life increase. And in turn, we retreat even further. At the root of this cycle is insecurity, but the seed is a basic lack of life-skill competence.

The Inefficient Cycle: Incompetence → Effort → Failure → Frustration → Inactivity → Incompetence

2. Overwhelmed Cycle

A man may feel overwhelmed because it all feels like so much. The longer tasks go undone, the more this giant, amorphous mess of uncompleted tasks and unqualified accusation grows. Unfinished work screams, “You’re not a real man!” Undone work excuses unkind self-treatment and unworthy God-worship. It’s easier to avoid a problem than face it head on.

When a man is given too much work without sufficient resources and tools to accomplish the tasks, he’ll shut down. This cycle begins, not so much with inefficiency, but disorganization. The inefficiency cycle lacks tools. The overwhelmed cycle lacks a blueprint. Without the ability to parse and prioritize your workload, almost any task can overwhelm a man.

The Overwhelmed Cycle: Disorganization → Effort → Insufficient Results → Panic → Inactivity → Growing Workload → Disorganization

3. Addiction Cycle

Men are often caught up in an addiction cycle that simultaneously 1) takes up time and energy, and 2) steals the basic ability to perform tasks.

overeating, stealing physical energy

drinking, stealing money and focus

pornographic indulgence, stealing basic spiritual awareness

This cycle often leeches on other cycles — addictions are ways to cope with being stuck. Male avoidance is active, clawing, scraping, and screaming for relief from accusation, for salvation from incompetence, inefficiency, and responsibility. The addiction cycle is the hook that draws a man deep into the dark — men who are weighed down by their shortcomings easily “forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness” (Proverbs 2:13).

The addiction cycle is the latch that often fastens men down in other destructive cycles of laziness. Addiction provides the illusion that divine joy is attainable without God — and with the illusive promise of life-giving rest through addictive indulgence, what need is there for the goodness of work, or (even more absurd) Sabbath rest?

The Addiction Cycle: Fatigue → Indulgence → Satisfaction → Negligence → Growing External Pressures → Craving → Fatigue

4. Unmotivated Cycle

Everyone around us screams, “Work!” So men just do, and quickly realize how purposeless work is as an end in its own. Why work? Peer pressure will last only so long. A failure to give a justified, or purposeful, or existentially compelling reason for work gives men an excuse to just stop working. The question isn’t, “Why are men so lazy?” but, “Why haven’t men found something worth working for?”

Without motivation — without purpose — what reason does a man have to do anything at all? The longer the unmotivated man remains sedentary, the more convinced he is that work simply isn’t worth it.

The Unmotivated Cycle: Lack of Motivation → Inactivity → Work Seems Harder → Work Seems Less Worth the Effort → Lack of Motivation

5. Hobby Cycle

Guys today have a quarter-life crisis and get into biking, shooting, fishing, gaming, or lifting. Guys do stuff now not to provide, but to convince the world (and maybe themselves) that they are just as worthwhile as their hard-working fathers. They are in a cycle of what David Powlison calls innocent pleasures. “The innocent pleasures work in exactly the opposite way as the addictive cycle. It takes less and less to push the lever of joy. Less stimulus is needed for greater joy.”

What do we need for real joy? Well, what is real joy (for the lazy hobby guy)? It is joy that gets us through life. Not the joy of living, but of surviving. What does that surviving-joy look like for the lazy man? Avoiding more and more work — escaping into a hobby. Hobbies can be good gifts from God, but men were made to work. Proficient entertainment cannot replace profession in the fight to live. “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (Proverbs 13:4).

The Hobby Cycle: Hobby → Excuses Not to Work → More Time for Hobby → More Hobby → Less Interest in Work → More Hobby

A Hammer, Not a Gavel

This may feel like an atomic bomb of judgment to some. Seeing more of my own laziness has certainly felt that way to me. If we’re honest, though, the lazy man hates himself, and so we will work as hard to avoid condemnation as we do to avoid work. The truth about our laziness, however, is not a final gavel of guilt, but a tool — a hammer, even — for escaping the shackles of our life-stealing lethargy.

Before we can escape patterns of laziness, we need to understand patterns of laziness: We’re shackled by cycles of sin — retreat and repeat — and they’re not easy to escape. We need to know what we need — where and how God’s grace comes to the lazy man.

The wise king knows, “The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving” (Proverbs 14:8). What is the first thing a lazy man can do to find his way out of laziness? He can know with personal nuance and practical specificity the position that he is in “to discern his way.”

And the grace of God begins slowly, gradually, and inch by inch. Stay in the fight. There is hope for a way out of your cycle — out of the weight that keeps you in bed, in front of the TV, out of your workplace and church. Your story is far from over.

A young man was sitting on the very last row in his classroom sound asleep while the teacher taught. Unbeknownst to the sleeping student, the principal was in the hallway observing his nodding head and closed eyes. After a few moments, the principal barged into the classroom and asked the teacher, “Do you know Stephen is sleeping in the back of your class?” After the teacher acknowledged that he did, the principal said, “What are you going to do about it?” The teacher responded, “Nothing. He’s a lot better behaved when he’s sleeping.” Perhaps you could have related to Stephen while you were in school.  Chances are that when test time comes for Stephen, though, he won’t be behaving: he’ll be grouchy, irritable, stressed, and possibly short-tempered, because he slept through class.

The same is often true for some people: they “misbehave” outside class, because they have a habit of sleeping through class. They didn’t learn the important things that they needed to know in regards to how to behave and respond to the things happening around them.

“No Christian can avoid theology. Every Christian is a theologian. Perhaps not a theologian in the technical or professional sense, but a theologian nonetheless. The issue for Christians is not whether we are going to be theologians but whether we are going to be good theologians or bad ones.”  

As I have worked with people over the years, I have seen direct improvements in their feelings of depression, guilt, discouragement, and fear as their knowledge of God (i.e. theology) has grown. These people were not just reading their Bible and attending church. They were reading their Bible and attending church with an alertness to find out more about God! They didn’t just learn about God, they started becoming doers of the Word and applying what they knew about God to their everyday lives.

I’m afraid too many people are sleeping through theology class and wondering why they think, behave, and react the way they do. Too much is at stake. By God’s grace, may we stay alert this week and learn more about our wonderful God.

I’m praying for our church to be students who are awake in theology class!

There are a lot of reasons people refuse to consider their own personal wrong responses to the hurtful things that have happened in their past. Some people refuse to consider it because of fear. They believe someone may use their acknowledgement of sin against them. That kind of fear must be overcome by a simple choice to obey God’s Word rather than our own feelings or suspicions. Some people refuse to consider their wrong responses in the past because they are foolish. They personally believe they were justified in what they did therefore their choices were not wrong. Proverbs 12:15 puts this kind of thinking into the category of a fool when it states, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.”

I John 2:1-2 says, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

This passage points out two crucial truths about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: He is both our advocateand our propitiation. As our advocate, He defends us when the enemy of our souls accuses us before the throne of God day and night (Rev.12:10). And the basis of His defense is not our righteousness but His. He is our propitiation or satisfaction. When our adversary accuses us, and often rightly so, our heavenly lawyers points to the wounds in His hands and side. Then the holy Father raps the gavel and declares that our sin has been forgiven and the case is dismissed.

Don’t let any more time go by before you confess the wrong responses you have had to the hurts of your past. Forgiveness is too valuable and accessible to forsake it any longer.

Summer is quickly approaching and with that comes the planning of a family vacation! I love and look forward to our family’s annual vacation and have already begun to count down the days. My hope is that each of our families here at FBC will find time this summer to take an intentional time of rest and time together making memories as a family.

Some families love trendy vacations like Disney Land, Sea World, cruises, etc. They love to be active, stand in lines, eat out, fill every waking hour, and come home tired! Other families choose less trendy vacation spots. They like lakes, beaches, and places with no lines and no activities. I am definitely a less trendy vacation guy. I like rest, no schedule, and lots of quiet. The purpose of my email today is not to persuade everyone to vacation like me. My purpose is to give you a few thoughts that I hope will encourage you to simply take a much needed vacation and use it well this summer.

1. The difference between a forgettable vacation and and unforgettable vacation is not the location or attractions. The difference is the attitude of the family! A stay-cation can be just as memorable and enjoyable as a trip to Disney Land if the attitude of love permeates a family. Note the words of Solomon in Proverbs 15:17 and make sure you go into vacation with an attitude of love.

2. Study your family before you plan your vacation! Each year brings new challenges to our homes. Our kids get older and develop cognitively, and their strength and health changes. Study your family to see what plan of vacation best helps the particular season of life your family is in. A new mom with young children may need a week of physical rest more than a week of activity. A home filled with energetic junior highers and teens may greatly benefit from a vacation that leaves the kids tired at the end of each night. There is great wisdom in Mom and Dad sitting down and giving careful thought to the current needs of the family and planning a vacation accordingly. Don’t get trapped in the thinking that you must do a vacation just like everyone else is doing. Every family is unique. You do what God would deem best for your family right now.

3. Keep your vacation affordable. A vacation that puts you in debt is a surefire way to put a damper on your family vacation. A wife or husband that spends the vacation wondering, “How are we paying for all of this?” will be distracted from enjoying his or her family and being at rest. The memories of a fun-filled vacation fade away when we get back and begin looking at the bills from the trip. A slim budget doesn’t mean you can’t have fun! It may just mean you have to work harder at being creative in your planning.

Family vacations are FAMILY vacations! They are supposed to be about being together, deepening relationships, laughing together, playing together, and making memories. You may not have much money to spend on vacation this summer, but you can have a low-budget vacation that is wealthy in what matters–developing a stronger bond together and with the Lord. Don’t worry about comparing what you do with the people next door. You do what is best for your family within your means and for the right reasons.

I hope God enables each of you to build some “family equity” this summer.

Our family has been attempting to relocate here in Folsom. In our search for new housing, we have been reading contracts and rental home requirements. We are looking within documents for a full disclosure of our responsibilities for payment and requirements for living. Full disclosure helps us make wise and thoughtful decisions.

John 16:33 gives us full disclosure to our righteous lives here on earth. It says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” God’s full disclosure of life here on earth eliminates the element of surprise and enables us to focus on four right responses to the inevitable suffering of the righteous.

1. We must respond to suffering honestly.

Psalm 73:2 is helpful concerning this point. Notice how the Psalmist speaks openly and honestly to his suffering. He says, “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.” He is not taking a “buck it up” or “real men don’t cry” mentality. He is honestly admitting the suffering and his vulnerability within it. In a similar fashion, we must respond through an honest admission of hard times and their impact on our lives. However, we cannot allow this to be the only element of our response. Notice the next three points.

2. We must respond to suffering by allowing God to deepen our relationship with His Word.

Richard Baxter said that “suffering unhinges the doors of our hearts to allow the Word of God easier entrance.” Have you found that to be true in your life? The Psalmist in Psalm 119 certainly found that to be true. Notice vss. 50, 67, 71, and 75. All four of these declare the profit the Psalmist received from suffering. The Word of God had comforted him (vs.50), kept him faithful (vs.67), taught him truths (vs.71), and reinforced God’s faithfulness to him (vs.75).

3. We must respond to suffering with a view that screens suffering through the lens of eternity.

I Peter 1:6-7 is so helpful in this regard. To those who have suffered or are suffering in something that feels like a lifetime, take comfort. Scripture teaches us that the longest suffering here on earth is still brief compared to eternity!

4. We must respond to suffering missionally.

The Psalmist Asaph and the Apostle Paul were both able to endure suffering because they looked at their suffering as a channel to one day help others who suffer.

Psalm 73:28 says, “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.”

II Corinthians 1:4 says, “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

II Corinthians 1:6 says “And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.”

We must not be surprised that God may lead us through something and give us something that is for a purpose bigger than ourselves. A missional response to suffering seeks to allow God to do things through us for the sake of others.

To each of you who has suffered righteously, have you responded right to righteous suffering?

A few months ago, I was involved in an accident that did an immense amount of damage to the front end of our vehicle. In the process of getting it repaired, I realized that I had a multifaceted problem: the body and engine were damaged, as well as some other key parts. The multifaceted problem required a multifaceted solution. I needed a guy who could do body work and a guy who could do engine repair.

Our past is multifaceted as well. It is not just one big lump. It is not a large, mysterious entity that cannot be understood or properly addressed. God’s Word can help us assess it and handle it well! It is important that we learn to properly look at our past and categorize it Biblically so that we can find the specific principles that Scripture gives us to help us with the specific facets of our past.

Think about it this way:

1. To those who suffered innocently but responded right, you have the riveting story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50.

2. To those who suffered innocently but didn’t respond right, you have the sobering story of Naomi in the book of Ruth.

3. To those who sinned in your past and did respond right, you have the humbling story of the disciple Peter.

4. To those who sinned in your past and did not respond right, you have the sad story of King David.

Today, here is your homework. Practice the discipline of categorizing your past correctly. You may not be responsible for all that is in your past, but you are responsible for how you respond to each event. My prayer is that God will help you respond right with the help of these email thoughts.

When I was growing up and my mom told me to relay a command to my younger brother Rick, our conversation would go something like this: “You need to clean up your room!” “Says who?” It was always gratifying and comforting to reply with, “Mom says so!” I had no personal authority in my brother’s life, but my parents did.

As adult Christians, I am afraid we have a subtle version of “says who?” that we use when someone tells us that we need to witness for Christ. Our frustration with having our personal priorities re-ordered or a convicting pressure placed upon us reveals that nature of our heart to resist the authority behind the command. Don’t resist the authority of Christ that prefaces His Great Commission to us. This authority that drives us to obey is the same authority that gives us confidence as we go. Matthew 28:18-19 says that all power is His–both the power to give us a command and the power to make our way prosperous. It is no surprise that we doubt the success of our mission when we regularly doubt the authority behind His command.

John Stott said, “The fundamental basis of all Christian missionary enterprise is the universal authority of Jesus Christ, ‘in heaven and in earth.’ If the authority of Jesus were circumscribed on earth, if He were but one of many religious teachers, one of many Jewish prophets, one of many divine incarnations, we would have no mandate to present Him to the nations as the Lord and the Savior of the world. If the authority of Jesus were limited in heaven, if He has not decisively overthrown the principalities and powers, we might still proclaim Him to the nations, but we would never be able to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Only because all authority on earth belongs to Christ dare we go to all nations. And only because all authority in heaven as well is His have we any hope of success.”

My travels over the last month have allowed me to cross paths with a number of pastors in the Rocky Mountain area that are consistently serving God but seeing minimal fruit. In fact, some of them can only number the salvations they have seen in their small towns with single digits. These men have not demonstrated sorrow or depression over the single digits, because they know the value of the one. Mark 16:26 reminds us of the great value of a soul. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” The few souls that some are seeing saved are more valuable than this whole world combined. A life spent ministering for the sake of one is not a wasted life. Take heart, even if your harvest numbers is in the single digits.

This is important, because our view of the one may be a determining factor in our faithfulness to that Great Commission command. Former President George H. Bush was rescued at sea during WWII. Time magazine carried an article a number of years ago that shared the following: Bush met a former Japanese soldier who claimed he actually saw the rescue of Bush when the submarine Finback surfaced and plucked him off his tiny dinghy. The old man related that one of his friends had remarked as they watched the swift rescue, “Surely America will win the war if they care so much for the life of one pilot.” Serve your Lord today with a sense of the value of one!

The authority behind the commission gives us great assurance to our mission’s success. Don’t be discouraged by single digits in your harvest field. Stay faithful!