One of Satan's Oldest Tricks

And what is that? It is to convince people that if they live by God's rules, if they obey His commandments, they will lose in the process. Yes, they may console themselves that they have done God's will, which is what causes them to follow through in the first place. But the trade-off is loss of fun, perhaps even boredom! I repeat, this is not true, but it is often touted (at least mentally) as being true. And myriads swallow such a lie. This is never what God intended. Listen to how Jehovah God put it through Moses:

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today FOR YOUR GOOD?” (Deuteronomy 10:12–13)

FOR YOUR GOOD!
On these words, the Puritan, Thomas Watson wrote the following: 

God commands nothing but what is beneficial. “O Israel, what does the Lord require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and to keep His statutes, which I command thee this day, for thy good?” To obey God, is not so much our duty as our privilege.

There it is. It's our privilege to obey God, to follow him. To think otherwise, to imagine that obedience to God would elicit anything but joy from heaven is to cast aspersion on the holy, glorious name of God! Please get this. Satan's M.O. has ever been to accuse God of everything ungodly, to picture Him as weak, as incapable or unwilling to help the creatures He created. We understand why the devil would proceed so; it is his very nature. But we labor vainly to find any good excuse for believers to imitate such a heinous attack against the majestic beauty of the thrice-holy God! Perhaps it is not so much the saved but "so-called" believers who balk at God's commands. Either way, we all do well to hear the beneficence of God's intentions here, and believe them! The good God promotes good. This is a truism that needs to ring through the halls of our spirituality.

Let us make every heart effort to exalt our God by so obeying Him that it is evident to men and angels that we consider service to God the highest privilege known to all creatures in the universe.

God's Will . . . Revisited

Yesterday we convened our monthly minister's meeting in Western New York. The following is a rough sketch of how the meeting proceeded. One of our brothers, a chaplain in corrections, had considered the possibility of a job change to another town. In the end he and his wife thought it best not to move even though some aspects about the job were attractive. The process, being such a common need among our parishoners as well as ourselves, I thought it best to record the following list and email it to our larger group of ministers who were not at the meeting. I trust it might help you as well. I summarized and interjected thoughts into the simple list in order to clarify. So, I began the email . . .

Dear Brothers:
I am not speaking in hyperbole when I tell you that our meeting today was excellent! Taking Michael Nace's recent "will of God" incident, we heard his brief recounting of their (his and Sylvie's) reasoning for staying put at their current place in Gowanda. Upon hearing this, we entered upon a discussion of many pertinent issues that arise both for ourselves as well as for those to whom we minister. I think that most of you would agree that determining the will of God is one of if not the greatest concerns among the people of God. As we discussed this subject, Pat Wilson wrote down a few of the items that arose. By no means would this list represent the extent of our discussion. We merely record them here since he had them. I will add a couple of thoughts within. NOTE: No attempt is made here to arrive any kind of order. Pat simply jotted down ideas as they arose in Mike's explanation a/o our later discussion. So, how do we go about discovering God's will?

1. Scripture. Here we would add that the Bible is not a book of magic where God's will appears genie-like upon reading it. Rather, if we go into our readings with a submissive spirit, something much better than magic emanates, clarity from the Spirit!
2. Prayer. God will hardly reveal himself to those who are not seeking him, or better yet, . . . listening!
3. Godly counsel. Proverbs says, "In the multitude of counselors there is safety" (11:14). Counselors, mind you, are not God replacements, but those we trust to help us look to God.
4. Peace of mind. It's not wise to make a move when the heart is conflicted. God's will should become clear as we move through the process of discovering it.
5. First impressions (1st voice heard in Garden of Eden was God's; 2nd voice heard was Satan's). Michael felt this to be an important consideration in deciding to remain in Gowanda. I (Dave) had not heard of this  so much except with regard to taking tests!! But I suppose that second-guessing affects us similarly.
6. Agreement with spouse. This is very important. If indeed our wives are God-given "helpers" suitable to us, they have a better than average view on our capabilities and weaknesses. We do well to hear them carefully. They have the Spirit. It is true, as Sylvie alluded, that as a wife she would go with her husband wherever he felt God leading him. I would add that such a submissive spirit acts as a powerful indicator that the wife's aid is necessary.
7. Giftedness. Not the most important, but taken together with the other indicators, this one ought to be considered. God gifts us as he wills, therefore, our placement should be in an area of our strength. An exception may be that we may not realize one of our strengths until put into the cauldron. But as a general rule, this is a wise consideration.
8. Readiness Do I really want to know God's will?  Am I ready to obey? If I am not practicing obedience in smaller issues, why would God entrust to me the larger? Faithful in little, faithful in much . . .
9. Release from present ministry. Pat shared this one as having come from a former NY CB State Director, Burton Murdock. The thought is that we may be looking elsewhere, but at some point, we must ask ourselves, "Has God really given me release from this ministry?" Good question. Without this, we may jump from the frying pan into the fire!
10. Calling (both personal calling to ministry & God's calling to a specific ministry). Jeremy Van Sant really focused on this as a point not being considered enough in today's newer ministers. I believe there was a consensus in today's meeting. I would say it is vital to know that God has issued a calling on your life in ministry and then subsequently on location. God speaks. He is the Revealer isn't He? So, God will hardly leave us in the lurch without a clear direction either. We want to know that God has put his hand on our lives and called us into his service. Such a call renders our trials of far lesser importance. In fact, as Carolyn Sharpe iterated, such trials are part of the very fabric of our Christian lives. They are to be expected, not avoided or shunned.
11. Testimony of others (do others see evidence of God's calling in my life?). Paul Decker can testify to this along with me, that in order to attend Seminary of the East (outside Philly) our home churches had to send a letter of recommendation testifying to our calling as ministers. Good practice. It's one thing if we say we're called, another when other believers feel the same. The Spirit works in God's people, so there is a place to trust (at least to some extent) the sense of your call in their hands.
12. Relationship with the Lord. In my counseling with those seeking God's will, I (Dave) have posed the question (in various ways), "You say you want God's will? But do you want the God of that will?" We've each probably run into those who want to know where to go, a destination, etc., but it's almost as if they are trying to pull off an "end-around," skirting God himself preferring only that He tell them what to do without requiring an intimate relationship with Him! I also say that God's will may not always be as hard we make it in this sense. If we are followers of Jesus, then when he turns left, we go with him, or right, the same. In others words, we follow Christ always, and his leading will then become more noticeable. This is not to minimize the struggle we face in the searching process, but to put it into context.

Book:  Decision Making & the Will of God (Garry Friesen/IVP)
Movie:  Chariots of Fire. There are some neat portions in this movie on God's will.

NOTE: Brothers, much of what is above is either my own thoughts, or my take on the thoughts that arose in today's meeting. If in any case I've gotten it wrong, please clarify. I would not want to misrepresent anything which you have spoken.

Sensuality, A Roadblock to Forgiveness

One of the most heart-constricting and soul-devastating things any person can do is fail to forgive. On the other hand, after conversion, the most exhilarating feeling that can come over a human being is the sense of freedom that arises from having been released of all transgressions! Subsequent to salvation thrills is the sense of freedom arising as we continue to die to our pride in order to freely forgive others. If one has lived a life of hatred or suffered from outstanding sins, it is hard to describe how absolutely excited one can be when freed from this hell. 

I have discovered from discussions with fellow ministers that when they have dealt with forgiveness either in a classroom or from the pulpit, it is amazing how many in the congregation had suffered intensely from a sordid history of grudges or unforgiveness. They seemed to have never understood that Jesus died and rose again from the dead to remove this horrid hindrance to Christian victory! Too often, when someone has been confronted with their sinful life or (in the case of having been sinned against) they rage instead of repent. Intense inner turmoil ensues. The latter end of such a person is very sad indeed, unless they submit and repent. In his very helpful book, The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness, John MacArthur makes this insightful point:

Much of Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness was given to teach us not to be driven by our passions in such matters. Allowing emotions to take over and control us so that we violate what we know rationally is our duty is the very essence of sensuality. And sensuality is sinful, whether it is the kind of sensuality that leads to sins of lust like adultery, or the kind of sensuality that allows emotions to become a roadblock to forgiveness.

Forgiveness is first of all an act of the will. It is not hypocrisy to will forgiveness when the emotions are screaming for vengeance. Be obedient to the Lord regardless of how you feel. If you refuse to harbor spite or dwell on the offense, evil emotions will be starved. Moreover, the Lord Himself will set your heart right. Right emotions will eventually come if you surrender to Him.

MacArthur, J. (1998). The freedom and power of forgiveness (electronic ed.) (191). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

May God help us to respond in faith. Too many live reactionary lives instead of proactively obeying Christ and finding everlasting freedom today!

Making gods of money, or our children . . .?!

How often this occurs only eternity will reveal, but I think it safe to say it more than fills the landscape of our spiritual countryside! Oh, how difficult it is to make people see this, that we who worship neither metal nor wood figures, may nonetheless bow before the shrine of some lesser god. That this has been ever an issue is somewhat evident in the fact that Spurgeon wrote of it well over a hundred years ago! See what you think.

“Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods.”
         — Jeremiah 16:20       

One great besetting sin of ancient Israel was idolatry, and the spiritual Israel are vexed with a tendency to the same folly. Remphan’s star shines no longer, and the women weep no more for Tammuz, but Mammon still intrudes his golden calf, and the shrines of pride are not forsaken. Self in various forms struggles to subdue the chosen ones under its dominion, and the flesh sets up its altars wherever it can find space for them. Favourite children are often the cause of much sin in believers; the Lord is grieved when he sees us doting upon them above measure; they will live to be as great a curse to us as Absalom was to David, or they will be taken from us to leave our homes desolate. If Christians desire to grow thorns to stuff their sleepless pillows, let them dote on their dear ones.

It is truly said that “they are no gods,” for the objects of our foolish love are very doubtful blessings, the solace which they yield us now is dangerous, and the help which they can give us in the hour of trouble is little indeed. Why, then, are we so bewitched with vanities? We pity the poor heathen who adore a god of stone, and yet worship a god of gold. Where is the vast superiority between a god of flesh and one of wood? The principle, the sin, the folly is the same in either case, only that in ours the crime is more aggravated because we have more light, and sin in the face of it. The heathen bows to a false deity, but the true God he has never known; we commit two evils, inasmuch as we forsake the living God and turn unto idols. May the Lord purge us all from this grievous iniquity!


Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

Converting Sinners: The Wrong Emphasis?!

How or when did the church take on John 3:16 as it's key verse? We were just talking about this in this morning's Bible study. I cannot be sure at this point, though with the loose theology of Charles Finney in the early to mid-1800s, the door was more than opened to such an emphasis. I read somewhere that the Puritans were not of such an inclination. Rather, they saw their main verse to be Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God . . ." Indeed, this was Paul's gospel introduction with the Athenian philosophers in Acts 17. And in an increasingly secular society fraught with godlessness and biblical illiteracy, it behooves the church to reacquire such a biblical bearing. Otherwise the church will have lost it's foundational compass pointing true spiritual north. 

My early experience of fundamentalism / evangelicalism supports that "getting people saved" was the all-important purpose of the church's existence. It was drilled into us in the Christian schools which I attended. We used to hear said, and I've repeated (though long ago), "Now that you're saved, you could go to heaven today!" (And this is certainly true). Then in order to reinforce the assurance of their salvation (not altogether a bad thing, right?), we would add something like, "The only reason God left you on this earth was to witness to others and get them saved! Otherwise, He would just take you home." But I would suggest that that is NOT the only reason God left us here. It is not even the most important! Read this from A. W. Pink (d. 1952):

ONCE a man makes the conversion of sinners his prime design and all-consuming end and NOT THE GLORY OF GOD, he is exceedingly apt to adopt a wrong course. Instead of striving to preach the Truth in all its purity, he will tone it down so as to make it more palatable to the unregenerate. Impelled by a single force, moving in one fixed direction, his object is to make conversion easy; and therefore, favorite passages (like John 3:16) are dwelt upon incessantly, while others are ignored or pared away. It inevitably reacts upon his own theology; and various verses in the Word are shunned, if not repudiated. What place will he give in his thoughts to such declarations as, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” (Jer. 13:23); “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw Him” (John 6:44); “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you” (John 15:14)? 

He will be sorely tempted to modify the truth of God’s sovereign election, of Christ’s particular redemption, of the imperative necessity for the super-natural operations of the Holy Spirit. [Pink, A. W. (2005). The Arthur Pink anthology. Bellingham, WA.: Logos Research Systems, Inc.]

I can hear someone respond, "Well, of course, the glory of God is important. That goes without saying!" To which I would reply (along with John Piper) that we had best NOT assume God's glory to be the pivotal doctrine in the church. The Almighty God does not deserve nor appreciate being assumed! We cannot afford for such a doctrine to go without saying, far less without embracing. It is so central and vital that we must emaphasize and reemphasize this doctrine today more than ever! This doctrine is true north among Christian doctrines. Get it wrong and no matter how sincere, no matter how correct along other lines, such a miscalculation will inevitably lead to gross detours if we even make it at all to the right destination.

A Commemoration of A. W. Tozer on His Birthday

I owe a debt to A. W. Tozer for his God-given ability to dig into the heart of Christianity and expose the truth. Such an expose enlightens, not darkens those who are exercised by truth. I am therefore, happy to re-post this and to draw anyone's attention to his part in the discipling of the body of Christ at large. God bless you as you read his writings and, hopefully gain a deeper understanding of the true God.

10 Inspirational A. W. Tozer Quotes

Posted: 21 Apr 2012 08:09 AM PDT

Aiden Wilson (A. W.) Tozer was born in a small farming community in Western Pennsylvania on April 21, 115 years ago. His spiritual path opened up when, as a 15-year-old, Tozer responded to a street evangelist. Five years later, with no theological training, he began pastoring his first church.

Tozer spent the rest of his life as a pastor, rising to national prominence during his tenure at Southside Alliance Church, Chicago, IL (1928–1959). Tozer wrote the spiritual classic The Pursuit of God during his time in Chicago, and over his lifetime authored more than 40 books. His steadfast call to repentance and faith earned him the nickname “the 20th-century prophet.”

On May 12, 1963, he went to be with his Lord after suffering a heart attack. The epitaph on his tombstone simply reads: “A. W. Tozer—A Man of God.”

To celebrate this remarkable man of faith, I put together 10 of my favorite Tozer quotes:

“I want the presence of God Himself, or I don’t want anything at all to do with religion. You would never get me interested in the old maids’ social club with a little bit of Christianity thrown in to give it respectability. I want all that God has, or I don’t want any.”—from The Counselor

“I wonder also how many Christians in our day have truly and completely abandoned themselves to Jesus Christ as their Lord. We are very busy telling people to “accept Christ”—and that seems to be the only word we are using. We arrange a painless acceptance.”—from Who Put Jesus on the Cross?

“The world lives in such a time of crisis. Christians alone are in a position to rescue the perishing. We dare not settle down to try to live as if things were normal.”—from Born After Midnight

“But a lot of people have gone too far and have written books and poetry that gets everybody believing that God is so kind and loving and gentle. God is so kind that infinity won’t measure it. And God is so loving that He is immeasurably loving. But God is also holy and just.”—from The Attributes of God, Volume One

“I can only say, let us be tolerant wherever we can be, and let us be charitable toward all those we cannot tolerate. But let us not imagine for a minute that we are called upon to take a top-of-the-fence stand, never knowing exactly what we believe.”—from Faith Beyond Reason

“It is a high Christian privilege to pray for one another within each local church body and then for other believers throughout the world. As a Christian minister, I have no right to preach to people I have not prayed for. That is my strong conviction.”—from Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts

“In some circles, God has been abridged, reduced, modified, edited, changed and amended until He is no longer the God whom Isaiah saw, high and lifted up.”—from Whatever Happened to Worship?

“No matter what the circumstances, we Christians should keep our heads. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind. It is a dismal thing to see a son of heaven cringe in terror before the sons of earth.”—from The Warfare of the Spirit

“Rightly understood, faith is not a substitute for moral conduct but a means toward it. The tree does not serve in lieu of fruit but as an agent by which fruit is secured. Fruit, not trees, is the end God has in mind in yonder orchard; so Christ-like conduct is the end of Christian faith.”—from The Size of the Soul

“The only fear I have is to fear to get out of the will of God. Outside of the will of God, there’s nothing I want, and in the will of God there’s nothing I fear, for God has sworn to keep me in His will.”—from Success and the Christian: The Cost of Spiritual Maturity

All or Nothing Christianity. Where is it these days?

“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus . . . has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9:17, ESV)

Here Ananias obeyed God against his "better judgment" and went to help Saul (later Paul) to regain his sight. (Remember Saul in his Pharisaical zeal had been a persecutor of the church). But now he had quite literally been blinded by the light of God from heaven as he was on the road to Damascus to persecute more Christians. From this time forward Paul's driving principle altered drastically. "For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). That was, as I said, his driving principle. I fear for far too many of us in the realm of Christianity, this has become an unreal expectation, or at least an untested or ignored expectation! We can quote the right verses, even nod our heads to orthodox teachings, and yet, for many of us it could not be honestly said, "Jesus Christ is his driving principle." I fear that we tend to quote the verses, but end up "consulting" God instead of obeying him implicitly. Notice that I said IMPLICITLY, "without qualification," or "absolutely." Oswald Chambers put it this way:

The abiding characteristic of a spiritual man is the interpretation of the Lord Jesus Christ to himself, and the interpretation to others of the purposes of God. The one concentrated passion of the life is Jesus Christ [emphasis mine]. Whenever you meet this note in a man, you feel he is a man after God’s own heart.

Never allow anything to deflect you from insight into Jesus Christ. It is the test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you [mine again].

‘Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus,
I’ve lost sight of all beside,
So enchanted my spirit’s vision,
Gazing on the Crucified.’

Chambers, O. My Utmost for His Highest

It seems that what I am finding in ministry (nothing new frankly) is that many so-called believers exhibit a life that treats God and the church like a second opinion, where their compliance to His will is still in their own hands to either follow or reject. Jesus never presented the gospel in such a manner. Ananias did what God told him to do. Why? Because God told him to do it! What more need be said? We treat "Thus saith the Lord" too often as an opinion. As Ted Koppel once said to the Duke graduating class in 1987, "When Moses came down from the mountain, he did not bring with him 'Ten Suggestions.'"

If Ananias had not lived the God-driven life, he would not have helped Saul become Paul. And if Paul had not lived the God-driven life then . . . !! We don't want to even think of what that would've looked like!

Does every other opinion but God's have an increasing fascination to you? Does His will mean more to you than life or death? That's where we need to be, not vacillating between opinions. God help us!