Tag: God

What is the best place for us to grow as disciples? – Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Practical2 Comments

In Armstrong Redwood National State Reserve just outside of San Francisco there are giant redwoods that extend skyward over a football field in length. They have stood for centuries despite the heavy storms that come through the region.

How can the giant redwoods remain upright against the fierce winds that batter them? They are able to face storm after storm after storm without toppling over because of their unique root system. Their roots are only 12 feet under the surface. While 12 foot is not shallow, it doesn’t seem deep enough to hold a tree that large in the ground. On its own those roots would probably be inadequate.But the giant Redwoods aren’t standing on their own. If you were to scrape back the earth, you would see an intertwined network of roots.

The Redwoods are able to stand because they live in community with one another, which allows them to depend on one another for strength. What they can’t do on their own, they are able to do in community. That’s how they have been able to stand for 100’s of years despite the storms that batter them.

Likewise, the only way we can endure the storms of life and learn Jesus as God has intended is by living in community with one another. Our spiritual roots must not just extend deep but wide. We must be connected to and depend on own another. We must see one another as a means to learn Christ and remain steadfast against the storms of life.

Our culture pulls us away from community

I believe this is one of the more difficult concepts for American Christians to get and to put into practice. The United States is the greatest country in the world. I love our country and thank God regularly that I am an American citizen. But here is the thing, we have to be aware that culture influences. Not only do we need to know that culture is a powerful influencer, but we need to know the ways the culture in which we live influences us. As citizens of the United States, we are influenced to be fiercely independent. We are taught to rely on ourselves and no one else. We are told time and time again all we need to be successful is self-effort, ingenuity with a bit of luck sprinkled on top.

While it is true no one is going to do it for you. You can’t expect others to make things happen on your behalf. There is no substitute for hard work. While all that is true, we can’t fall into the trap of believing we don’t need one another, we can do it on our own, and we don’t need Christian community. We need one another!

But we need to press into community

Over a decade of ministry, I have seen this hold true. I have seen both men and women come to the church. I have seen them grow in the faith and in their understanding of God’s Word. I have seen them begin to live like Jesus. But then something happens. Their work schedule changes. They have a family issue they are embarrassed about. The church burns them out. There is conflict that is not dealt with biblically. For one of those reasons or another, they begin to pull away from the church. Attend a little less often. Soon, a little less turns into a lot less. They quit answering your phone call. They turn down invitations to coffee, lunch or dinner. They begin to isolate themselves from Christian community.

The next thing you know they are having marital problems, they are abusing a substance, they are compromising in their business, they aren’t standing firm in their faith and living on mission for Jesus. They aren’t accomplishing their purpose in life — to bring glory to God. Instead, they are seeking self-glory!

If we are going to remain steadfast, we need Christian community. It is the only way we are going to grow. It’s the only way we are going to see transformation and stand against the myriad of storms that come at us in life. We need community.

Not just any type of community

But we don’t just need any kind of community. We need a certain type of community. We don’t need a community that mirrors a country club. We don’t need a community that caters to our preferences. We don’t need a community that won’t be real with us when we are in sin. We don’t need a community like that. We can get that type of community in the world. The church is supposed to be different than the world. It is supposed to offer a different type of community.

We need a specific type of community to grow in Christlikeness

The type of community the church should offer and the type of community we need to be a part of is an authentic and interdependent transformative learning community.

What does that type of community look like?

Over the next several posts, we are going to explore the characteristics of an authentic and interdependent transformative learning community.

Want to keep learning?

Watch the sermon this post is based on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JetS_q_I6S4

Tenderness is not a sign of weakness 

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Devotionals, LeadershipLeave a comment

Reading through 1 Thessalonians this morning, and as a follow up to my last post, I am struck by Paul’s care and desire for the Thessalonians. Certainly, his care extends to their physical needs, but his focus is on the spiritual in the latter verses of chapter 2 into chapter 3. His own boasting before the Lord is wrapped up in their spiritual steadfastness and growth (1 Thess 2:19). His desire to know how they are doing spiritually causes him to send Timothy ahead of himself and leaving him without his trusted associate (1 Thess 3:1-2). Upon Timothy’s return, his good report causes him joy (1 Thess 3:9). 

Paul as Model

Paul is a model in many ways. His boldness to proclaim the gospel and plant churches is inspiring. His willingness to put his life on the line for the sake of Christ time and time again is convicting. But his boldness and bravado are balanced by tenderness. As Christian leaders, we must not only be bold and brave, but we must also be tender with those whom the Lord has placed under our care. 

Tenderness is not a sign of weakness.

Rather it is evidence that the gospel has affected your heart. Our Lord is tender. He cares for those who are His like a nursing mother cares for her child. 

There are no pictures of Paul. Photography didn’t exist in Paul’s day. But I can’t help but think of Paul as a big, burly guy. I could be wrong. But that is the image that comes to mind when I think of Paul. If a big burly guy like Paul can be tender and caring so can we. Men, Pastor, allow Paul to be your example.

Tenderness is not a sign of weakness. 

Whose glory are you seeking?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Leadership, PastoralLeave a comment

Our world is full of those seeking their own glory. If you need an example, open your Instagram feed. There are examples after examples of those who seek their own glory, whether they use whit, sex, interest, or charm. The currency of glory, at least on Instagram, is hearts and comments. The more the better. 

But I am not here to pick on Instagram. I post pictures on my account regularly. It is not a bad medium. I gain a lot of inspiration from others for my own photography. It is, however, an example of the natural human desire for self-glory. 

I believe we all need to be aware of our natural tendencies, but today I want to speak specifically to ministry leaders and pastors. As leaders, we must be aware of our natural desire for self-glory. If we don’t, we will forget our reason for ministry. 

Paul, as example

Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, seeks to clear up a misunderstanding they had regarding him and his ministry when he says: 

“For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” (1 Thess 2:3-8)

Paul is clear. He didn’t come:

  • To please man but to please God. 
  • He didn’t seek to flatter.
  • He wasn’t after their money. 
  • Nor was he seeking self-glory. 

Paul came to the Thessalonians in order to preach the gospel to bring glory to God.

Not Our Glory

As ministry leaders, our desires must be pure. Our motives must always be right and good. We must not seek position in the church for our own glory or gain. If we are in it for what we can get out of it, we will be tempted to hedge when times are tough. Instead of standing up for what is right, we will let things slide to keep our position or status. Unwillingness to take a stand, seeking self glory, is not how healthy churches are formed. As ministry leaders, our goal should be to win others to Christ, help them grow in the faith, and bring glory to God. If that is not our focus, then we are deceiving ourselves and the people/church to whom we are seeking to minister.

For Our Ultimate Boss

While we might be able to hide our motives from men, we can’t hide them from God. He is the only One who can peer into the innermost recesses of our lives, into our very heart — will, mind, emotions — and see why we do what we do. He is the ultimate judge. Not only should we seek to please Him in all we do, but we must also seek His glory above our own.

Whose glory are you seeking?

God is not working in my life. Is He real? Does He care about me?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals2 Comments

God is not working in my life. Is He real? Does He care about me?

We are good at misapplying God’s mercy. We take God’s mercy to mean that we should be free from any difficulty in life. If, and when, we face difficulty we take it to mean that God hasn’t shown up which means He either doesn’t care or isn’t real. In this way, God’s seeming standoffishness is used as an apologetic against Christianity.

However, reading through Dane Ortlund’s book Gentle and Lowly this morning, I came across this passage:

“Perhaps, looking at the evidence of your life, you do not know what to conclude except that this mercy of God in Christ has passed you up. Maybe you have been deeply mistreated. Misunderstood. Betrayed by the one person you should have been able to trust. Abandoned. Taken advantage of. Perhaps you carry a pain that will never heal till you are dead. If my life is any evidence of the mercy of God in Christ, you might think, I’m not impressed.

To you I say, the evidence of Christ’s mercy toward you is not your life. The evidence of his mercy toward you is his—mistreated, misunderstood, betrayed, abandoned. Eternally. In your place.

If God sent his own Son to walk through the valley of condemnation, rejection, and hell, you can trust him as you walk through your own valleys on your way to heaven.”

Dane C. Ortlund. Gentle and Lowly, 179.

We have it wrong. God’s mercy doesn’t mean we won’t face hardship, instead it means He faced the ultimate hardship on our behalf. What comfort it is to know that God is there, not as a genie who makes life easy for us, but as a Savior who sheds His blood on our behalf.

When will God deal with evil?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical2 Comments

God has a plan for this world.

A plan that has existed before the foundation of the world. Before anything was created, God had a plan. God’s plan involves Him dealing with evil.

If you don’t believe God has a plan, look at His prophecies and promises throughout Scripture. Look and see how He has fulfilled them.

God has a plan. A plan He is bringing to fruition. A plan that will not be thwarted.

Hard to Believe

That might be hard to believe, because our best laid plans. They don’t always work out. If you are a parent, especially of young kids, you know this to be true. You might have an entire day planned out. You are going to get out of the house with the kids. Head to park. Wear them out a bit. Then run a few errands before stopping at the grocery store to pick up some food to cook that evening for your friends that are coming over.

You have full day but you have it all planned out. You are getting ready to go. Your kids are being quiet. You can’t believe they are being quiet and letting you get ready. Then you think, maybe they are being a little too quiet. You walk back to their room to check on them, and to your horror you find their new clothes you just dressed them in covered in paint. Then you see hand prints all over the wall.

Guess what you are doing that day? You aren’t going to park. You aren’t running errands. You might make it to the grocery store, but most likely you are ordering pizza for your friends that are coming over, if you don’t just throw your hands up and cancel your plans altogether.

Our best laid plans don’t always work out, but God’s do.

God is our Creator. He is the One who created you and I and the universe in which we live. He controls all things. He is the all-sovereign God. His plans don’t fail. He has a plan to deal with evil.

In the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, Jesus tells us when He will deal with evil.

In the parable Jesus tells us a story about a Farmer. He sows wheat on his own land. But the farmer has an enemy who comes at night and plants weeds in his field.

The weeds that his enemy plants are what is known as Darnel. Darnel closely resembles wheat. At first, they look identical. You can’t really tell the difference until the wheat matures. Only then can you tell that the weeds weren’t wheat but weeds because there was no head — no fruit.

What we see then is that the bad crop grows alongside the good crop. As it grows their roots intertwine with one another. The weeds end up soaking up all the nutrients and moisture in the soil. It stunts the growth of the wheat so that it doesn’t produce as it would have if the darnel hadn’t been planted in the first place.

Once you are able to tell the field was infested with darnel, you couldn’t pull the weeds up because of the intertwined roots. If you did, you would end up pulling up the wheat crop, so the farmer tells his servants to allow the weeds to exist among the wheat until the harvest. At the harvest the darnel would be gathered out and burned while the wheat was put in the barn.

When Jesus returns, those who are evil will be gathered up and burned in the fire.

“Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Mt 13:40–43)

Even though evil is allowed to continue in the world, judgment is coming.

When Jesus returns, all those who are not His disciples: All those who haven’t repented of their sin. Who don’t recognize He is the Messiah. That He is the One who provides them with salvation. All those who don’t call Him Lord will face judgment.

For now, Jesus allows His disciples to live in the world among those who are evil. Those who are evil do evil things. We have seen that on the news regarding Afghanistan. People are being oppressed, beaten, and even killed. 13 soldiers and over 160 civilians lost their life because evil people decided to set off a bomb. Evil exists in the world. We live among it every day.

But Jesus promises us that evil won’t continue forever. One day, He will deal with it. Those who are not in His kingdom will be judged and the world will be purged of evil. But that won’t happen now. It will only happen when Jesus returns.

Two Choices — Biblical Wisdom or Worldly Wisdom

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Pastoral14 Comments

Are you able to distinguish between worldly wisdom and biblical wisdom? Do you know which is more beneficial for your life and why?

Jesus’ parable of the two builders comes at the end of His famous Sermon on the Mount teachings. ****We don’t have time to go through all of Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. But suffice it to say His teaching tells us who are apart of His kingdom and how we are to live in His kingdom.

Two Choices — Biblical Wisdom or Worldly Wisdom

At the end of His teaching on the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers His listeners, He offers us, two choices. A choice between hearing and doing the wisdom of the world or hearing and doing His wisdom.

Look at the text starting in verse 24:

““Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Mt 7:24)

Skip down to verse 26:

“And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”

(Mt 7:26)

Using a building analogy, Jesus distinguishes between worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. He uses an everyday occurrence in Palestine to show us the folly of building our life on worldly wisdom. The wise man builds His house on the rock.The foolish man builds his house on the sand.

If you were a wise man in ancient Palestine, you would build your house on the rock so that when “... the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Mt 7:25)

But those who were unwise, they didn’t build on the rock and there was a different outcome for them. Look at verse 27,

“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.””

(Mt 7:27)

Through this parable, offers us two choices.

  • (1) Build your life on the rock — on biblical wisdom — experience safety and salvation.
  • (2) Or build your life on the sand — on worldly wisdom — experience destruction.

Those are the two choices we have. Allow the Bible, allow Jesus to guide us, allow biblical wisdom to direct our lives. Or allow the world, worldly wisdom to guide and direct us.

Why should we allow biblical wisdom to direct our lives?

When it comes to understanding why we should allow biblical wisdom to direct our lives, James is super helpful:

In James 3:13-18, James contrasts two types of wisdom — heavenly wisdom and worldly wisdom. Those who are wise according to the world’s standards live by mantras like:

  • “You do you”;
  • “let it be”;
  • “just do what feels right to you”;
  • “be true to yourself”;
  • “do what makes you feel good”;
  • “Just follow your heart”.

I’m sure you have heard those before. You might have even voiced them yourself. As good as they might sound, that is representative of worldly wisdom.

You might think following worldly wisdom will result in success. We live in the world after all. But that is not true.

Worldly wisdom, James says, results in “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition” (James 3:14). It results in boasting that seeks to puff up self while tearing another downAs well as it results in lies, because, after all it is all about self.

Heavenly wisdom is different. Heavenly wisdom comes down from above. Heavenly wisdom is what Jesus has been pouring forth throughout the sermon on the mount. Heavenly wisdom produces good fruit:

  • Humility, peace, and mercy.
  • It is pure and gentle.
  • It’s impartial.
  • and it results in sincerity (James 3:17-18).

All wisdom is not created equal.

All wisdom doesn’t lead to flourishing relationships and a loving community. There are two different types of wisdom to which we can listen and apply. They originate from two different places. Notice I didn’t say they came from several different places, but that they originate from two different places. Wisdom either originates from God and His kingdom, OR from Satan and his kingdom. There is not a third or fourth type of wisdom. There are only two types of wisdom upon which we can base our life, our actions. God’s wisdom, Jesus’ wisdom. The wisdom found in God’s Word, what James refers to as heavenly wisdom. Or worldly wisdom.

Those who build their life on worldly wisdom will experience a great loss.

Destruction, disaster will come upon them when they least expect it. Your entire life will come crashing down if that what you have built your life on instead of the rock. Sand that is easily moved. The things of this world can promise us happiness, joy, pleasure, peace but those can be quickly taken. If the world is all that we have based our life on, we will experience disaster.

But those who build their lives on Jesus’ wisdom, His teaching, who operate according to a Christian worldview, they will stand firm when destruction comes knocking. Jesus doesn’t change. He is the rock. That which He offers, He always offers. There are no shifting sands with Jesus. Even if things around you come crashing down, you always have the Rock.

It is not “if” but “when”.

Those things that seek to destroy us will come. They will often come at a time we are not expecting. Life is going great. All is well. Then boom! The storm comes. Depending on what foundation you have built, you will either survive the storm or you won’t. That is what Jesus is getting at.

Worldly wisdom doesn’t save. It doesn’t protect. It only results in destruction.